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SKETCHES 

OF     THE 

HISTORY,    GENIUS,    DISPOSITION, 

ACCOMPLISHMENTS,  EMPLOYMENTS, 
CUSTOMS,  VIRTUES,  and  VICES, 

OF    THE 

FAIR  SEX, 

IN  ALL  PARTS  OF  THE  WORLD. 

INTERSPERSED    WITH 

MANY  SINGULAR    AND  ENTERTAINING 
ANECDOTES. 

By  a  Friend  to  the  Sex, 


"  Graceful  in  all  her  steps — Heaven  in  her  eye 
— In  every  gesture  dignity  and  love ." — 


GETTYSBURG: 
PRINTED  BY  ROBERT  HARPER. 

—1812.— 


m 


«•• 


CONTENTS, 

Chapter.  Pag* 

1.  OF  the  first  woman  and  her  antedi- 

luvian descendants,  5 

2.  Of  women  in  the  patriarchal  ages,  7 

3.  Of  the  women  of  ancient  Egypt,  9 

4.  Of  the  modern  Egyptian  women,  11 

5.  Of  the  Persian  women,  16 

6.  Of  the  Grecian  women,  19 

7.  Of  the  Grecian  courtezans,  24 

8.  Of  the  Roman  women,  29 

9.  Laws  and  customs  respecting  the  Ro- 

man women,  26 

10.  Of  the  effects  of  Christianity  on  the 

manners  of  women,  39 

11.  Of  women  in  savage  life,  42 

12.  Of  the  Eastern  women,  48 

13.  Of  the  Chinese  women,  53 

14.  Of  the  wives  ©f  the  Indian  priests,  54 
1.5.  A  comparison  between  the  Mahom- 
etans and  Dutch,  with  regard  to 
their  women,  56 

16.  Of  the  African  women,  61 

17.  Of  the  effects  of  chivalry  on  the  cha- 

racters and  manners  of  women,  64 

18.  The  opinion  of  two  modern  authors 

concerning  chivalry,  jq 

19.  Of  the  great  enterprises  of  women  in 

the  times  of  chivalry,  75 

20.  Other  curious  particulars  concerning 

females  in  those  ages,  79 


CONTENTS. 

21.  Of;.'              iunworn  35 

22.  Of  the  framing  of  women,  87 

fthe  European  women,  93 

Cfcf  the  French  women,.  94 

Italian  women,  100 

tish  women,  106 

27.                 LngJifih  v.  100 

hen,  112 

German  women,  114 
£0.  On   the  comparative   merit  of  the 

two  sexes,  118 
51.  On  the  religious  and  domestic  vir- 
tues of  women,  128 
On  female  friendship,  131 
S3.  On  female  benevolence,  135 
34.  On  female  patriotism,  156 
35*   Of  women  with  regard  to  polished 

life,  139 
36.  On  the  idea  of  Female  inferiority,  141 
:>7.   On  female  simplicity,  145 
33.  On  the   mild  magnanimity  of  wo- 
men, 151 
female  delicacy,  154 

40.  On  female  wk,  157 

41.  On  ehe  mikience  of  female  rociety,  1G0 

42.  Of  the  British  ladies  at  different  pe- 

riods, 168 

43.  On    the   privileges  of  British  wo- 

men, 183 

44.  On  female  knowledge,  190 
On  female  culture  and  accomplish- 
ments in  different  ages,  195 

45.  On   the  necessity   mental   ac.com- 

ntsofla  203 

47.  On  the  monastic  life,  208 


CONTENTS. 

48.  On   the  degrees  of  sentimental  at- 

tachment at  different  periods,         215 

49.  A  view  of  matrimony  in  three  diffe- 

rent lights,  222 

50.  Of  betrothing  and  marriage,  224 

51.  On  the  choice  of  a  husband,  229 

52.  Mrs.  Piozzi's  advice  to  a  new  mar- 

ried man,  241 

53.  Garrick's  advice  to  married  ladies,    247 

54.  On  widowhood,  248 

55.  Dr.  Schomberg's  method  of  reading 

for  female  improvement,  257 

56.  The  deaths  of  Lucretia  &  Virginia,     261 

57.  Thoughts  on  the  Education  of  wo- 

men, 262 

58.  Wedded  love  is  infinitely  preferable 

to  variety,  264 

59.  On  the    revolutions  of  the   French 

fashions,  with  some  advice  to  the 
ladies  respecting  certain  parts  of 
dress,  oG5 

60.  On  looking  at  the  picture  of  a  beau- 

tiful female* 
01.  Education  of  women  in  Asia  and 
Africa--  Amusements  of  the  Gre- 
cian ladies — Religious  festivals  of 
the  Greeks- — Religious  dancers, 
&c,  279 

62.  Punishment  of  Polygamy  in  Egypt 

— Semiramis  of  Assyria — -Ac- 
count of  the  Sybarites—Customs 
of  the  Grecian  women,  .286 

63.  Rape  of  the  Sabine  Virgins — Wo- 

men of  Scythia,  Me»sagetae;i-    \y 
Cruelty  of  Amcstris,  2D2 


xhj 


CONTENTS. 

64.  Japanese  delicacy— Deli  ~acy  of  the 

Lydians Licentious  Law    of 

Denmark— -Extraordinary  wo- 
men, 300 

65.  Courage  of  Savage  women — Despe- 

rate act  cf  Euthira — Luxurious         1/ 
dressofthe  Grecian  ladies — First 
use  of  hair  powc>r,  307 

66.  Grecian  and  Spartan    Indecency— 

Cruelty  of  the  Grecian  women,     314      r 

67.  Drunkenness  of  son  e  Grec  ion  wo- 

men— Story  of  Lucre  tia —  Inde- 
cency of  Roman  women — Inde- 
cency of  savage  nations,  321 
C8.  Naked  Fakiers — Mahometan  plu- 
rality of  wives: — Women  ofOta- 
heite,  323. 

69.  Italian  debauchery— Female,  slander- 

ers—  Crim.  Con.  of  Claudius 
and  Pompeia,  335 

70.  Jewish  customs — Ancient  customs 

Athenian  midwife,  &c. — Canadi- 
an women — Superstition,  &x.        341 

71.  Customs  of  the  Muscovites — Cas- 

tration— Eunuchs — Origin    of  \S 

Nunneries— Customs  in  the  Mo- 
gul Empire,  348 

72.  Grecian  courtship,  power  of  philtres 

and  charms— Eastern  courtship 
—Long  hair  of  Saxons  and 
Danes,'  354 

73.  The  Lapland  and  Greenland  lady- 

Sale  of  children  to  purchase  wives 
—Plurality  and  community  of 
wives— Girls  sold  at  Auction,        361 


CONTENTS. 

74.  Punishment  of  Adultery- -Anecdote 
of  Caesar---  r\)wer  of  IN  larryin^ 
&c. — Celibacy  of  the  Clergy,        369 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES 


OF    THE 


FAIR  SEX, 


CHAPTER  I. 

Of  the  First  Woman,  and  her  Antediluvian 
Descendants. 

THE  great  Creator,  having  formed  man 
of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  "  made  a  deep  sleep 
to  fall  upon  him,  and  took  one  of  his  ribs, 
and  closed  up  the  flesh  instead  thereof.  And 
the  rib,  which  the  Lord  God  had  taken  from 
man,  made  he  a  woman,  and  brought  her 
unto  the  man."  Hence  the  fair  sex,  in  the 
opinion  of  some  authors,  being  formed  of 
matter  doubly  refined,  derive  their  superior 
beauty  and  excellence. 

Not  long  after  the  creation,  the  first  wo- 
man was  tempted  by  the  serpent  to  eat  of  the 
fruit  of  a  certain  tree,  in  the  midst  of  the 
garden  of  Eden,  with  regard  to  which  God 
had  said,  u  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it  neither 
shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die." 
B 


6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

TCfais  deception,  and  the  fatal  consequences 
arising  from  it,  furnish  the  most  interesting 
story  in  the  whole  history  of  the  sex. 

On  the  offerings  being  brought,  and  that  of 
Abel  accepted,  Cain's  jealousy  and  resent- 
ment rose  to  such  a  pitch,  that,  as  soon  as 
they  came  down  from  the  mount  where  they 
had  been  sacrificing,  he  fell  upon  his  brother 
and  slew  him. 

For  this  cruel  and  barbarous  action,  Cain 
and  his  posterity,  being  banished  from  the 
rest  of  the  human  race,  indulged  themselves 
in  every  species  of  wickedness.  On  this  ac- 
count, it  is  supposed,  they  were  called  the 
jSbw  and  Daughters  of  Men.  The  posterity 
of  Seth,  on  the  other  hand,  became  eminent 
for  virtue,  and  a  regard  to  the  divine  precepts. 
By  their  regular  and  amiable  conduct,  they 
acquired  the  appellation  of  Sons  and  Daugh- 
ters of  God. 

After  the  deluge  there  is  a  chasm  in  the 
history  of  women,  until  the  time  of  the  pa- 
triarch Abraham.  They  then  begin  to  be 
introduced  into  the  sacred  story.  Several  of 
their  actions. are  iccorded.  The  laws,  cus- 
toms and  usages,  by  which  they  were  govern- 
ed, are  frequently  exhibited.    • 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Of  the  JFonien  hi  the  Patriarchal  Ages. 

THE  condition  of  women,  among  the  an- 
cient patriarchs,  appears  to  have  been  but  ex- 
tremely indifferent*  When  Abraham  enter- 
tained the  angels,  sent  to  denounce  the  des- 
truction of  Sodom,  he  seems  to  have  treated 
his  wife  as  a  menial  servant:  "  Make  ready 
quickly,"  said  he  to  her,  "  three  measures  of 
fine  meal,  knead  it,  and  make  cakes  on  the 
hearth." 

In  many  parts  of  the  east,  water  is  only  to 
be  met  with  deep  in  the  earth,  and  to  draw  it 
from  the  wells  is',  consequently,  fatiguing  and 
laborious.  This,  however,  was  the  task  of  the 
daughters  of  Jethro  the  Midianite  ;  to  whom 
so  little  regard  was  paid,  either  on  account  of 
their  sex,  or  the  rank  of  their  father,  as  high- 
priest  of  the  country,  that  the  neighbouring 
shepherds  not  only  insulted  them,  but  forci- 
bly took  from  them  the  water  they  had 
drawn. 

This  was  the  task  of  Rebecca,  who  not 
only  drew  water  for  Abraham's  servant,  but 
for  his  camels  also,  while  the  servant  stood  art 
idle  spectator  of  the  toil.  Is  it  not  natural 
to  imagine,  that,  as  he  was  on  an  embassy  to 
court  the  damsel  for  Isaac,  his  master's  son, 
he  would  have  exerted  his  utmost  efforts  to 
please,  and  become  acceptable? 


8  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

When  he  had  concluded  his  bargain,  and 
was  carrying  her  home,  we  meet  with  a  cir- 
cumstance worthy  of  remark.  When  she 
first  .approached  Isaac,  who  had  walked  out 
into  the  fields  to  meet  her,  she  did  it  in  the 
most  submissive  manner,  as  if  she  had  been 
approaching  a  lord  and  master,  rather  than  a 
fond  and  passionate  lover.  From  this  cir- 
cumstance, as  well  as  from  several  others,  re- 
lated in  the  sacred  history,  it  would  seem  that 
tvemen,  instead  of  endeavoring,  as  in  mo- 
dern times,  to  persuade  the  world  that  they 
confer  an  immense  favour  on  a  lover,  by 
deigning  to  accept  of  him,  did  not  scruple  to 
confess,  that  the  obligation  was  conferred  on 
themselves. 

This  was  the  case  with  Ruth,  who  had  laid 
herself  down  at  the  feet  of  Boaz  ;  and  being 
asked  by  him  who  she  was,  answered,  "  I 
am  Ruth,  thine  handmaid;  spread,  therefore, 
thy  skirt  over  thine  handmaid,  for  thou  art  a 
near  kinsman.'' 

When  Jacob  went  to  visit  his  uncle  Laban, 
he  met  Rachel,  Laban's  daughter,  in  the  fields, 
attending  on  the  flocks  of  her  father. 

In  a  much  later  period,  Tamar,  one  of  the 
daughters  of  king  David,  was  sent  by  her 
father  to  perform  the  servile  office  of  making 
cakes  for  her  brother  Amnon. 

T*he  simplicity  of  the  times  in  which  these 
things  happened,  no  doubt,  very  much  inva- 
lidates the  strength  of  the  conclusions  that 
naturally   arise  from   them.     But,   notwith- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  9 

landing,  it  still  appears  that  women  were  not 
then  treated  with  the  delicacy  which  they 
have  experienced  among  people  more  polish, 
ed  and  refined. 

Polygamy  also  prevailed  ;  which  is  so  con- 
trary to  the  inclination  of  the  sex,  and  so 
deeply  wounds  the  delicacy  of  their  feelings, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  any  woman  volunta- 
rily to  agree  to  it,  even  where  it  is  authorized 
by  custom  and  by  law.  Wherever  therefore, 
polygamy  takes'  place,  we  may  assure  our- 
selves that  women  have  but  little  authority, 
and  have  scarcely  arrived  at  any  consequence 
in  society. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Of  tlie  Women  of  Ancient  Egypt. 

WHEREVER  the  human  race  live  soli- 
tary, and  unconnected  with  each  other,  they 
are  savage  and  barbarous.  Wherever  they 
associate  together,  that  association  produces 
softer  manners,  and  a  more  engaging  deport- 
ment. 

The  Egyptians,  from  the  nature  of  their 
country,  annually  overflowed  by  the  Nile, 
had  no  wild  beasts  to  hunt,  nor  could  they 
procure  any  thing  by  fishing.  On  these  ac- 
counts, they  were  under  a  necessity  of  ap- 
plying themselves  to  agriculture,  a  kind  cf 

B    2 


io  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

life  which  naturally  brings  mankind  togethe^ 
for  mutual  poiivenience  and  assistance. 

They  were,  likewise,  every  year,  during  the 
inundation  of  the  river,  obliged  to  assemble 
her,  and  take  shelter,  either  on  the  risjng 
grounds,  or  in  the  houses,  which  were  raised 
upon  piles,  above  the  reach  of  the  waters. 
Here,  almost  every  employment  being  sus- 
pended, and  the  men  and  women  long  con- 
fined together,  a  thousand  inducements,  not 
to  he  {bund  in  a  solitary  state,  would  natu- 
rally prompt  them  to  render  themselves 
agreeable  to  each  other.  Hence  their  man- 
ners would  begin,  more  early,  to  assume  a 
softer  polish,  and  more  elegant  refinement, 
than  those  of  the  ether  nations  who  surround- 
ed them. 

The  practice  of  confining  Women,  institut- 
ed by  jealousy,  and  maintained  by  unlawful 
power,  was  not  adopted  by  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians. This  appears  from  the  story  of  Pha- 
roah's  daughter,  who  was  going  with  her 
train  of  maids  to  bathe  in  the  river,  when  she 
found  Moses  hid  among  the  reeds.  It  is  still 
mere  evident,  from  that  of  the  wife  of  Poti- 
phar,  who,  if  she  had  been  confined,  could 
not  have  found  the  opportunities  she  did,  to 
solicit  Joseph  to  her  adulterous  embrace. 

The  queens  of  Egypt  had  the  greatest  at- 
tention paid  to  them.  They  were  more  rea- 
dily obeyed  than  the  kings.  It  is  also  related, 
that  the  husbands  were  in  their  marriage 
contracts  obliged  to  promise  obedience  ta 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  If 

an  obedience,"  says  an  inge- 
nious author,*  "which  in  our  modern  times, 
we  are  often  obliged  to  perform,  though  our 
wives  entered  into  the  promise," 

The  behaviour  of  Solomon  to  Pharoah's 
daughter  is  a  convincing  proof  that  more 
honour  and  respect  was  paid  to  the  Egyp- 
tian women,  than  to  those  of  any  other  peo- 
ple. Solomon  had  many  other  wives  besides 
this  princess,  and  was  married  to  several  of 
them  before  her,  which,  according  to  the  Jew- 
ish law,  ought  to  have  entitled  them  to  a  pre- 
ference. But,  notwithstanding  this,  wc  hear 
of  no  particular  palace  having  been  built  for 
any  of  the  others,  nor  of  the  worship  of  any 
of  their  gods  having  been  introduced  into 
Jerusalem.  But  a  magnificent  palace  was 
erected  for  Pharoah's  daughter  ;  and  she  was 
permitted,  though  expressly  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  Israel,  to  worship  the  gods  of  her 
own  country. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Of  the  Modern  Egyptian  JFomen, 

THE  women  of  modern  Egypt  are  far 
from  being  on  so  respectable  a  fooling  as  they 
were  in  ancient  times,  or  as  the  European  wo- 
men are  at  present. 

*  Dr.  Alexander, 


12  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

In  Europe,  women  act  parts  of  great  con- 
sequence, and  often  reign  sovereigns  on  the 
world's  vast  theatre.  They  influence  man- 
ners and  morals,  and  decide  on  the  most  im- 
portant events.  The  fate  of  nations  is  fre- 
quently in  their  hands. 

How  different  is  their  situation  in  Egypt ! 
There  they  are  bound  down  by  the  fetters  of 
slavery,  condemned  to  servitude,  and  have  no 
influence  in  public  affairs.  Their  empire  is 
confined  within  the  walls  of  the  Harem.* 
There  are  their  graces  and  charms  entombed. 
The  circle  of  their  life  extends  not  beyond 
their  own  family  and  domestic  duties. 

Their  first  care  is  to  educate  their  children ; 
and  a  numerous  posterity  is  their  most  fer- 
vent wish.  Mothers  always  suckle  their 
children.  This  is  expressly  commanded  by 
Mahomet :  Lei  the  mother  suckle  her  child 
full  two  years,  if  the  child  dees  not  quit  the 
breast  ;  but  she  shall  be  permitted  to  wean  it, 
with  the  consent  of  her  husband. 

The  harem  is  the  cradle  and  school  of  infan- 
cy. The  new-born  feeble  being  is  not  there 
swaddled  and  filletted  up  in  a  swathe,  the 
source  of  a  thousand  diseases.  Laid  naked 
on  a  mat,  exposed  in  a  vast  chamber  to  the 
pure  air,  he  breathes  freely,  and  with  his  deli- 
cate limbs  sprawls  at  pleasure.  The  new  el- 
ement, in  which  he  is  to  live,  is  not  entered 
with  pain  and  tears.     Daily  bathed  beneath 

•  The  Women'*  apartment. 


THE  FAIR  SEX,  13 

his  mother's  eye,  he  grows  apace.  Free  to 
act,  he  tries  his  coming  powers ;  rolls,  crawls, 
rises;  and  should  he  fall,  cannot  much  hurt 
himself  on  the  carpet  or  mat  which  covers 
the  floor. 

The  daughter's  education  is  the  same. 
Whalebone  and  busks,  which  martyr  Euro- 
pean girls,  they  know  not.  They  are  only 
covered  with  a  shift  until  six  years  old  :  and 
the  dress  they  afterwards  wear  confines  none 
of  their  limbs,  but  suffers  the  body  to  take  its 
true  form  ;  and  nothing  is  more  uncommon 
than  rickctty  children,  and  crooked  people. 
In  Egypt,  man  rises  in  all  his  majesty,  and 
women  displays  every  charm  of  person. 

Subject  to  the  immutable  laws  by  which 
custom  governs  the  East,  the  women  do  not 
associate  with  the  men,  not  even  at  table, 
where  the  union  of  sexes  produces  mirth  and 
wit,  and  makes  food  more  sweet.  When  the 
great  incline  to  dine  with  one  of  their  wives* 
she  is  informed,  prepares  the  apartment,  per- 
fumes it  with  precious  essences,  procures  the 
most  delicate  viands,  and  receives  her  lord 
with  the  utmost  attention  and  respect. 

Among  tjie  common  people,  the  women 
usually  stand,  or  sit  in  a  corner  of  the  room, 
while  the  husband  dines.  They  often  hold 
the  bason  for  him  to  wash,  and  serve  him  at 
table. 

Customs  like  these,  which  the  Europeans 
rightly  call  barbarous,  and  exclaim  against  with 
justice,  appear  so  natural  in  Egypt,  that  they 


M  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

do  not  suspect  it  can  be  otherwise  elsewhere; 
ouch  is  the  power  of  habit  over  man.  What 
has  been  for  ages,  he  supposes  a  law  of  nature. 

The  Egyptian  women,  once  or  twice  a 
week,  are  permitted  to  go  to  the  bath,  and  vi- 
sit female  relations  and  friends.  They  re- 
ceive eaeh  other's  visits  very  affectionately. 
When  a  lady  enters  the  harem,  the  mistress 
rises,  takes  her  hand,  presses  it  to  her  bosom, 
kisses  and  makes  her  sit  down  by  her  side  ; 
a  slave  hastens  to  take  her  black  mantle  ;  she  is 
entreated  to  be  at  ease,  quits  her  veil  and  dis- 
covers a  floating  robe  tied  round  the  waist 
with  a  sash,  which  perfectly  displays  her  shape. 
She  then  receives  compliments  according  to 
their  manner  :  "  Why,  my  mother,  or  my  sis- 
ter, have  you  been  so  long  absent?  We  sighed 
to  see  you  !  Your  presence  is  an  honour  to 
our  house  !   It  is  the  happiness  of  our  lives  !" 

Slaves  present  coffee,  sherbet  and  confecti- 
onary. They  laugh,  talk  and  play.  A  large  dhh 
is  placed  on  the  sofa,  on  which  are  oranges, 
pomegranates,  bananas,  and  excellent  melons. 
Water,  and  rose-water  mixed,  are  brought  in 
an  ewer,  and  with  them  a  silver  bason  to  wash 
the  hands  ;  and  loud  glee  and  n>erry  conver- 
sation season  the  meal.  The  chamber  is  per- 
fumed by  wood  of  aloes,  in  a  brazier;  and, 
the  repast  ended,  the  slavesdance  to  the  sound 
of  cymbals,  with  whom  the  mistresses  often 
mingle.  At  parting  they  several  times  re- 
peat, "  God  keep  you  in  health  !  Heaven 
grant  you  a  numerous  offspring !  Heaver 


TBE  FAIR.  SEX.  15 

serve  your  children ;  the  delight  and  glory  of 
your  family  !" 

When  a  visitor  is  in  the  harem,  the  hus- 
band must  not  enter.  It  is  the  asylum  of  hos- 
pitality, and  cannot  be  violated  without  fatal 
consequences  ;  a  cherished  right,  which  the 
Egyptian  women  carefully  maintain,  being  in- 
terested in  its  preservation.  A  lover,  dis- 
guised like  a  woman,  may  be  introduced  in- 
to the  harem,  and  it  is  necessary  lie  should 
remain  undiscovered  ;  death  would  otherwise 
be  his  reward.  In  that  country,  where  the 
passions  are  excited  by  the  climate,  and  the 
difficulty  of  gratifying  them,  love  often  pro- 
duces tragical  events. 

The  Egyptian  women,  guarded  by  their 
eunuchs,  go  also  upon  the  water,  and  enjoy 
the  charming  prospects  of  the  banks  of  the 
Nile.  Their  cabins  are  pleasant,  richly  em- 
bellished, and  the  boats  well  carved  and  paint- 
ed. They  are  known  by  the  blinds  over  the 
windows,  and  the  music  by  which  they  arc 
accompanied. 

When  they  cannot  go  abroad,  they  endea- 
vor to  be  merry  in  their  prison.  Toward 
sun-setting,  they  go  on  the  terrace,  and  take 
the  fresh  air  among  the  flowers  which  are 
carefully  reared.  Here  they  often  bathe  ; 
and  thus,  at  once,  enjoy  the  cool,  limpid  wa- 
ter, the  perfume  of  odoriferous  plants,  the 
balmy  air,  and  the  starry  host,  which  shine  in 
the  iirmament. 


16  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Thus  Bathsheba  bathed,  when  David  be- 
held her  from  the  roof  of  his  palace. 

Such  is  the  usual  life  of  theEgyptian  wo- 
men. Their  duties  are  to  educate  their  chil- 
dren, take  care  of  their  household,  and  live  re- 
tired with  their  family :  their  pleasures,  to  visit, 
give  feasts,  in  which  they  often  yield  to  exces- 
sive mirth  and  licentiousness,  go  on  the  water, 
take  the  air  in  orange  groves,  and  listen  to  the 
Almai.  They  deck  themselves  as  carefully 
to  receive  their  acquaintance,  as  European 
women  do  to  allure  the  men.  Usually  mild 
and  timid,  they  become  daring  and  furious, 
when  under  the  dominion  of  violent  love. 
Neither  locks  nor  grim  keepers  can  then  pre- 
scribe bounds  to  their  passions ;  which 
though  death  be  suspended  over  their  heads, 
they  search  the  means  to  gratify,  and  are  sel- 
dom unsuccessful. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Of  the  Persian  Women. 

SEVERAL  historians,  in  mentioning  the 
ancient  Persians,  have  dwelt  with  peculiar  se- 
verity on  the  manner  in  which  they  treated 
their  women.  Jealous,  almost  to  distraction;, 
they  confined  the  whole  sex  with  the  strictest 
attention,  and  could  not  bear  that  the  eye  of  a 
stranger  should  behold  the  beauty  whom  they 
adored. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  17 

When  Mahomet,  the  great  legislator  of  the 
modern  Persians,  was  just  expiring,  the  last 
advice  that  he  gave  to  his  faithful  adher- 
ents, was,  "  Be  watchful  of  your  religion,  and 
your  wives."  Hence  they  pretend  to  derive 
not  only  the  power  of  confining,  but  also  of 
persuading  them,  that  they  hazard  their  sal-' 
vation,  if  they  look  upon  any  other  man  be- 
sides their  husbands.  The  christian  religion 
informs  us,  that  in  the  other  world  they  neither 
marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage.  The  re- 
ligion of  Mahomet  teaches  us  a  different  doc- 
trine, which  the  Persians  believing,  carry  the 
jealousy  of  Asia  to  the  fields  of  Elysium,  and 
the  groves  of  Paradise  ;  where,  according  to 
them,  the  blessed  inhabitants  have  their  eyes 
placed  on  the  crown  of  their  heads,  lest  they 
should  see  the  wives  of  their  neighbours. 

Every  circumstance  in  the  Persian  history 
tends  to  persuade  us,  that  the  motive,  which 
induced  them  to  confine  their  women  with  so 
much  care  and  solicitude,  was  only  exuber- 
ance of  love  and  affection.  In  the  enjoyment 
of  their  smiles,  and  their  embraces,  the  hap- 
piness of  the  men  consisted,  and  their  appro- 
bation was  an  incentive  to  deeds  of  glory  and 
of  heroism.  For  these  reasons  they  are  said 
to  have  been  the  first  who  introduced  the  cus- 
tom of  carrying  their  wives  and  concubines 
to  the  field,  "  That  the  sight,"  said  they,  "  of 
all  that  is  dear  to  us,  may  animate  us  to  fiVht 
more  valiantly."  «? 

C 


IS  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

To  offer  the  least  violence  to  a  Persian  wo- 
man, was  to  incur  certain  death  from  her 
husband  or  guardian.  Even  their  kings, 
though  the  most  absolute  in  the  universe, 
could  not  alter  the  manners  or  customs  of  the 
country,  which  related  to  the  fair  sex. 

Widely  different  from  this  is  the  present 
state  of  Persia.  By  a  law  of  that  country, 
their  monarch  is  now  authorised  to  go  when- 
ever he  pleases,  into  the  harem  of  any  of  his 
subjects;  and  the  subject,  on  whose  preroga- 
tive he  thus  encroaches,  so  far  from  exerting 
his  usual  jealousy,  thinks  himself  highly  ho- 
noured by  such  a  visit. 

A  laughable  story,  on  this  subject,  is  told 
cf  Shah  Abbas,  who  having  got  drunk  at  the 
house  of  one  of  his  favourites,  and  intending 
to  go  into  the  apartment  of  his  wives,  was 
stopped  by  the  door-keeper,  who  bluntly  told 
him,  "  Not  a  man,  Sir,  besides  my  master, 
shall  put  a  muctacho  here,  so  long  as  I  am 
porter."  "  What,"  said  the  king,  u  dost 
thou  not  know  me  ?"  u  Yes,  answered  the  fel- 
low, "  I  know  you  are  king  of  the  men,  but 
not  of  the  women."  Shah  Abbas,  pleased 
with  the  answer,  and  the  fidelity  of  the  servant, 
retired  to  his  palace.  The  favorite,  at  whose 
house  the  adventure  happened,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  it,  went  and  fell  at  his  master's  feet,  in- 
treating  that  he  would  not  impute  to  him 
the  crime  committed  by  his  domestic.  He 
likewise  added,  "  I  have  already  turned  him 
away  from  my  service  for  his  presumption." — 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  ?9 

"  I  am  glad  of  it,"  answered  the  king :  u  I  will 
take  him  into  my  service  for  his  fidelity." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Of  the  Grecian  Women. 

IT  is  observed  by  an  able  panegyrist  for 
the  fair,  "  That  the  greatest  respect  has  al- 
ways been  paid  them  by  the  wisest  and  best 
of  nations."  If  this  be  true,  the  Greeks 
certainly  forfeited  one  great  claim  to  that 
wisdom  which  has  always  been  attributed  to 
them;  for  we  have  good  reason  to  believe, 
that  they  regarded  their  women  only  as  instru- 
ments of  raising  up  members  to  the  state. 

In  order  to  esteem  the  sex,  we  must  do 
more  than  see  them.  By  social  intercourse, 
and  a  mutual  reciprocation  of  good  offices, 
we  must  become  acquainted  with  their  worth 
and  excellence.  This,  to  the  Greeks,  was  a 
pleasure  totally  unknown.  As  the  women 
lived  retired  in  their  own  apartments,  if  they 
had  any  amiable  qualities,  they  were  buried 
in  perpetual  obscurity.  Even  husbands  were, 
in  Sparta,  limited  as  "to  the  time  and  duration 
of  the  visits  made  to  their  wives;  and  it  was 
the  custom  at  meals  for  the  two  sexes  always 
to  eat  separately. 

The  apartments  destined  for  the  women,  in 
order  to  keep  them  more  private,  were  al- 
ways in  the  back,  and  generally  in  the  upper 


20  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

part  of  the  house.  The  famous  Helen  is 
said  to  have  had  her  chamber  in  the  loftiest 
part  of  it ;  and  so  wretched  were  their  dwel- 
lings, that  even  Penelope,  queen  of  Ulysses, 
seems  to  have  descended  from  hers  by  a  lad- 
der. 

Unmarried  women,  whether  maids  or  wi- 
dows, were  under  the  strictest  confinement. 
The  former,  indeed,  were  not  allowed  to  pass 
without  leave  from  one  part  of  the  house  to 
another,  lest  they  should  be  seen. 

New  married  women  were  almost  as  strict- 
ly confined  as  virgins.  Hermoine  was  severe- 
ly reproved  by  her  old  duenna,  for  appearing 
out  of  doors ;  a  freedom,  which,  she  tells  her, 
was  not  usually  taken  by  women  in  her  situ- 
ation, and  which  would  endanger  her  reputa- 
tion should  she  happen  to  be  seen. 

Aristophanes  introduces  an  Athenian  lady, 
loudly  complaining,  that  women  were  con- 
fined to  their  chambers,  under  lock  and  key, 
and  guarded  by  mastiffs,  goblins,  or  any  thing 
that  could  frighten  away  admirers. 

The  confinement,  however,  of  the  Grecian 
women,  does  not  appear,  in  some  cases,  to 
have  been  so  much  the  effect  of  jealousy,  as, 
of  indifference.  The  men  did  not  think  them 
proper  companions  ;  and  that  ignorance, 
which  is  the  result  of  a  recluse  life,  gave  them 
too  good  a  reason  to  think  so.  Nothing  in 
Greece  was  held  in  estimation,  but  valour  and 
eloquence.  Nature  had  disqualified  the  fair 
sex  for  both.  They  were  therefore  considered 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  ar 

as  mean  and  contemptible  beings,  much  be- 
neath the  notice  of  heroes  and  of  orators, 
who  seldom  favored  them  with  their  company. 
Thus  deserted  by  a  sex  which  ought  to  be 
the  source  of  knowledge,  the  understandings 
of  the  women  were  but  shallow,  and  their 
company  uninteresting ;  circumstances  which 
invariably  happen  in  every  country  where  the 
two  sexes  have  little  communication  with 
each  other. 

In  perusing  the  Grecian  history,  we  every 
where  meet  with  the  most  convincing  proofs 
of  the  low  condition  of  their  women.  Homer 
considers  Helen,  the  wife  of  Menelaus,  of 
little  other  value  than  as  a  part  of  the  goods 
which  were  stolen  along  with  her ;  and  the 
restitution  of  these,  and  of  her,  are  common- 
ly mentioned  in  the  same  sentence,  in  such  a 
manner,  as  to  show,  that  such  restitution 
would  be  considered  as  a  full  reparation  of 
the  injury  sustained. 

The  same  author,  in  celebrating  Penelope, 
wife  of  Ulysses,  for  refusing  in  his  absence  so 
many  suitors,  does  not  appear  to  place  the 
merit  of  her  conduct,  in  a  superior  regard  to 
chastity,  or  in  love  to  her  husband ;  but  in 
preserving  to  his  family  the  dowry  she  had 
brought  along  with  her,  which,  on  a  second 
marriage,  must  have  been  restored  to  her 
father  Icarius. 

Telemachus  is    always-  represented  as   a 
most  dutiful  son.     But,  notwithstanding  this, 
we  find  him  reproving  his  mother  in  a  mau- 
C  2 


22  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ner  which  shews  that  the  sex,  in  general,  were 
not  treated  with  softness  and  delicacy,  howe- 
ver dignified,  or  with  whatever  authority  in- 
vested. 

t(  Your  widowed  hoars,  apart  with  female  toil, 
And  various  labours  of  the  loom  beguile. 
There  rule,  from  palace  cares  remote  and  free  ; 
That  care  to  man  belongs,  and  most  to  me." 

If  we  take  a  view  of  the  privileges  be- 
stowed by  law  or  custom  on  the  Grecian 
women,  we  shall  find,  that,  in  the  earlier  ages, 
they  were  allowed  a  vote  in  the  public  assem- 
blies. This  privilege,  however,  was  after- 
wards taken  from  them.  They  succeeded 
equally  with  brothers  to  the  inheritance  of 
their  fathers ;  and  to  the  whole  of  that  inhe- 
ritance, if  they  had  no  brothers.  But  to  this 
last  privilege  was  always  annexed  a  circum- 
stance, which  must  have  been  extremely  dis- 
agreeable to  every  woman  of  sentiment  and 
feeling.  An  heiress  was  obliged,  by  the  laws 
of  Greece,  tcrtnarry  her  nearest  relation,  that 
the  estate  might  not  go  out  of  the  family; 
and  this  relation,  in  case  of  a  refusal,  had  a 
right  to  sue  for  the  delivery  of  her  person,  as 
we  do  for  goods  and  chattels. 

He  who  divorced  his  wife  was  obliged  ei- 
ther to  return  her  dowry,  or  pay  her  so  much 
per  month,  by  way  of  maintenance.  He  who 
ravished  a  free  woman  was  obliged  in  some 
states  to  marry  her,  in  others  to  pay  a  hun- 
dred, and  in  others  again,  a  thousand  drachms. 


THE  FAIR  SEX,  23 

But  when  we  impartially  consider  the  good 
and  ill  treatment  of  the  Grecian  women,  we 
find  that  the  balance  was  much  against  them, 
and  may  therefore  conclude,  that,  though  the 
Greeks  were  eminent  in  arts,  and  illustrious 
in  arms,  yet,  in  politeness  and  elegance  of 
manners,  the  highest  pitch  to  which  they  ever 
arrived,  was  only  a  few  degrees  above  savage 
barbarity. 

In  the  different  aeras  of  Grecian  history, 
however,  we  must  not  suppose  that  the  wo- 
men were  always  the  same.  It  appears  that 
the  manners  in  the  isles  of  Greece,  in  gene- 
ral, were  much  purer  than  on  the  continent. 
Those  islanders,  by  being  less  exposed  to 
foreign  intercourse,  could  more  easily  pre- 
serve their  laws  and  their  virtues.  The  war- 
like convents  of  Lacedemon,  the  nurseries 
only  of  soldiers,  wrould  be  much  more  rigid 
than  the  smiling  retreats  of  Athens,  whence 
politeness  was  propagated,  and  fashion  an- 
nounced; and  the  city  of  Thebes,  where  a 
rustic  grossness  supplied  the  place  of  an  ele- 
gant luxury,  must  have  been  very  different 
from  Corinth,  which  on  account  of  its  situa- 
tion and  commerce,  obtained  the  name  of 
"  The  two  seats  of  Wealth  and  Pleasure." 


a.4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Of  the  Grecian  Courtezans. 

THE  rank  which  the  courtezans  enjoyed, 
even  in  the  brightest  ages  of  Greece,  and 
particularly  at  Athens,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
singularities  in  the  manners  of  any  people. 
By  what  circumstances  could  that  order  of 
women,  who  debase  at  once  their  own  sex 
and  ours — in  a  country,  where  the  women 
were  possessed  of  modesty,  and  the  men  of 
sentiment,  arrive  at  distinction,  and  sometimes 
even  at  the  highest  degree  of  reputation  and 
consequence?  Several  reasons  may  be  as- 
signed for  that  phenomenon  in  society. 

In  Greece  the  courtezans  were  in  some 
measure  connected  with  the  religion  of  the 
country.  The  goddess  of  beauty  had  her 
altars ;'  and  she  was  supposed  to  protect  pros- 
titution, which  was  to  her  a  species  of  wor- 
ship. The  people  invoked  Venus  in  times 
of  danger;  and,  after  a  battle,  they  thought 
they  had  done  honour  to  Miltiades  and  The- 
mistocles,  because  the  Laises  and  the  Gly- 
ceras  of  the  age  had  chaunted  hymns  to  their 
goddess. 

The  courtezans  were  likewise  connected 
with  religion,  by  means  of  the  arts.  Their 
persons  afforded  models  for  statues,  which 
were  afterwards  adored  in  the  temples. — 
Phrine  served  as  a  model  to  Praxiteles,  for 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  2$ 

his  Venus  of  Cnidus.  During  the  feasts  of 
Neptune,  near  Eleusis,  Appeles  having  seen 
the  same  courtezan  on  the  sea  shore,  without 
any  other  veil  than  her  loose  and  flowing  hair, 
was  so  much  -struck  with  her  appearance, 
that  he  borrowed  from  it  the  idea  of  his  Ve- 
nus rising  from  the  waves. 

They  were,  therefore,  connected  with  sta- 
tuary and  painting,  as  they  furnished  the  prac- 
tises of  those  arts  with  the  means  of  em- 
bellishing their  works. 

The  greater  part  of  them  were  skilled  in 
music ;  and,  as  that  art  was  attended  with 
higher  effects  in  Greece,  than  it  has  ever  been 
in  any  other  country,  it  must  have  possessed, 
in  their  hands,  an  irresistible  charm. 

Every  one  knows  how  enthusiastic  the 
Greeks  were  of  beauty.  They  adored  it  in 
the  temples.  They  admired  it  in  the  principal 
works  of  art.  They  studied  it  in  the  exer- 
cises and  the  games.  They  thought  to  per- 
fect it  by  their  marriages.  They  offered  re« 
wards  to  it  at  the  public  festivals.  But  virtu- 
ous beauty  was  seldom  to  be  seen.  The  mo- 
dest women  were  confined  to  their  own  apart- 
ments, and  were  visited  only  by  their  hus- 
bands and  nearest  relations.  The  courtezans 
offered  themselves  every  where  to  view;  and 
their  beauty,  as  might  be  expected,  obtained 
universal  homage. 

Society  only  can  unfold  the  beauties  of  the 
mind.  Modest  women  were  excluded  from 
it.     The  courtezans  of  Athens,  by  living  in 


26  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

public,  and  conversing  freely  with  all  ranks 
of  people,  upon  all  manner  of  subjects,  ac- 
quired by  degrees,  a  knowledge  of  history, 
of  philosophy,  of  policy,  and  a  taste  in  the 
whole  circle  of  the  arts*  Their  ideas  were 
more  extensive  and  various,  and  their  conver- 
sation was  more  sprightly  and  entertaining, 
than  any  thing  that  was  to  be  found  among 
the  virtuous  part  of  the  sex.  Hence  their 
houses  became  the  schools  of  elegance.  The 
poets  and  the  painters  went  there  to  catch  the 
fleeting  forms  of  grace,  and  the  changeable 
features  of  ridicule ;  the  musicians,  to  per- 
fect the  delicacy  of  harmony ;  and  the  phi- 
losophers, to  collect  those  particulars  of  hu- 
man life,  which  had  hitherto  escaped  their 
observation. 

The  house  of  Aspasia  was  the  resort  of 
Socrates  and  Pericles,  as  that  of  Ninon  was 
of  St.  Evremont  and  Conde.  They  acquired 
from  those  fair  libertines  taste  and  politeness, 
and  they  gave  them  in  exchange  knowledge 
and  reputation. 

Greece  was  governed  by  eloquent  men  ; 
and  the  celebrated  courtezans,  having  an  in- 
fluence over  those  orators,  must  have  had  an 
influence  on  public  affairs.  There  was  not  one, 
not  even  the  thundering,  the  inflexible  De- 
mosthenes, so  terrible  to  tyrants,  but  was  sub- 
jected to  their  sway.  Of  that  great  master  of 
eloquence  it  has  been  said,  "  What  he  had 
been  a  whole  year  in  erecting,  a  woman  o- 
Terturned  in  a  day."  That  influence  augmen- 


THE  f  AIR  SEX.  27 

ted  their  consequence  ;  and  their  talent  of 
pleasing  increased  with  the  occasions  of  ex- 
erting it. 

The  laws  and  the  public  institutions,  in- 
deed, by  authorising  the  privacy  of  women, 
set  a  high  value  on  the  sanctity  of  the  marri- 
age vow.  But  in  Athens,  imagination,  sen- 
timent, luxury,  the  taste  in  arts  and  pleasure, 
was  opposite  "to  the  laws.  The  courtezans, 
therefore,  may  be  said  to  have  come  in  sup- 
port of  the  manners. 

There  was  no  check  upon  publick  licenti- 
ousness; but  private  infidelity,  which  concern- 
ed the  peace  of  families,  was  punished  as  a 
crime.  By  a  strange  and  perhaps  unequalled 
singularity,  the  men  were  corrupted,  yet  the 
domestic  manners  were  pure.  It  seems  as  if 
the  courtezans  had  not  been  considered  to 
belong -to  their  sex  ;  and,  by  a  convention  to 
which  the  laws  and  the  manners  bended, 
while  other  women  were  estimated  merely  by 
their  virtues,  they  were  estimated  only  by 
their  accomplishments. 

These  reasons  will,  in  some  measure  ac- 
count for  the  honours,  which  the  votaries  of 
Venus  so  often  received  in  Greece.  Other- 
wise we  should  have  been  at  a  loss  to  con- 
ceive, why  six  or  seven  writers  had  exerted 
their  talents  to  celebrate  the  courtezans  of  A- 
thens — why  three  great  painters  had  uniform- 
ly devoted  their  pencils  to  represent  them  on 
canvass — snd  why  so  many  poets  had  strove 
to  immortalize  them  in  verses.  We  should 
hardly  have  believed  that  so  many  illustrious 


23  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

men  had  courted  their  society — that  Aspasia 
had  been  consulted  in  deliberations  of  peace 
and  war — that  Phrine  had  a  statue  of  gold 
placed  between  the  statues  of  two  kings 
at  Delphos — that,  after  death,  magnificent 
tombs  had  been  erected  to  their  memory. 

u  The  traveller,"  says  a  Greek  writer, 
"  who,  approaching  to  Athens,  sees  on  the  side 
of  the  way  a  monument  which  attracts  his  no- 
tice at  a  distance,  will  imagine  that  it  is  the 
tomb  of  Miltiades  or  Pericles,  or  of  some  other 
great  man,  who  has  done  honour  to  his  coun- 
try by  his  services.  He  advances,  he  reads 
and  he  learns  that  it  is  a  courtezan  of  Athens 
who  is  interred  with  so  much  pomp." 

Theopompus,  in  a  letter  to  Alexander  the 
Great,  speaks  also  of  the  same  monument  in 
words  to  the  following  effect — "  Thus,  after 
her  death,  is  a  prostitute  honoured  ;  while 
not  one  of  those  brave  warriors  who  fell  in 
Asia,  fighting  for  you  and  for  the  safety  of 
Greece,  has  so  much  as  a  stone  erected  to  his 
memory,  or  an  inscription  to  preserve  his 
ashes  from  insult." 

Such  was  the  homage  which  that  enthusias- 
tic people,  voluptuous  and  passionate,  paid  to 
beauty.  More  guided  by  sentiment  than  by 
reason,  and  having  laws  rather  than  princi- 
ples, they  banished  their  great  men,  honoured 
their  courtezans,  murdered  Socrates,  permit- 
ted themselves  to  be  governed  by  Aspasia, 
preserved  inviolate  the  marriage  bed,  and  pla- 
ced Phrine  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  i 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  29 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Of  the  Roman  Women. 

AMONG  the  Romans,  a  grave  and  aus- 
tere people,  who,  daring  live  hundred  years, 
were  unacquainted  with  the  elegancies  and 
the  pleasures  of  life,  and  who,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  furrows  and  fields  of  battle,  were  em-^ 
ployed  in  tillage  or  in  war,  the  manners  of  the" 
women  were  a  long  time  as  solemn  and  severe 
as  those  of  the  men,  and  without  the  small- 
est mixture  of  corruption,  or  of  weakness. 

The  time  when  the  Roman  women  began 
to  appear  in  public,  marks  a  particular  sera  in 
history. 

In  the  infancy  of  the  city,  and  even  until 
the  conquest  of  Carthage,  shut  up  in  their 
houses,  where  a  simple  and  rustic  virtue  paid 
every  thing  to  instinct,  and  nothing  to  ele- 
gance— so  nearly  allied  to  barbarism,  as  only 
to  know  what  it  was  to  be  wives  and  mothers 
—chaste  without  apprehending  they  could  be 
otherwise — tender  and  affectionate,  before 
they  had  learned  the  meaning  of  the  words — 
occupied  in  duties,  and  ignorant  that  there 
were  other  pleasures  ;  they  spent  their  life  in 
retirement,  in  domestic  ceconomy,  in  nursing 
their  children,  and  in  rearing  to  the  republic  a 
race  of  labourers,  or  of  soldiers. 

The  Roman  women,  for  many  a?;es,  were 
respected  over  the  whole  world.  "  Their  vic- 
torious husbands  re-visited  them  with  trans- 
port, at  their  return  from  battle.  They  laid 
at  their  feet  the  spoils  of  the  enemy,  and  en- 
D 


so  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

dcared  themselves  in  their  eyes,  by  the  wounds 
which  they  had  received  lor  them  and  for  the 
state.  Those  warriors  often  came  from  im- 
posing commands  upon  kings  ;  and  in  their 
own  houses  accounted  it  an  honour  to  obey. 
In  vain  the  too  rigid  laws  had  made  them  the 
arbiters  of  life  and  death.  More  powerful  than 
the  laws,  the  women  ruled  their  judges.  In 
vain  the  legislature,  foreseeing  the  wants 
which  exist  only  among  a  corrupt  people,  per- 
mitted divorce.  The  indulgence  of  the  polity 
was  proscribed  by  the  manners. 

Such  was  the  influence  of  beauty  at  Rome 
before  the  licentious  intercourse  of  the  sexes 
had  corrupted  both. 

The  Roman  matrons  do  not  seem  to  have 
possessed  that  military  courage  which  Plu- 
tarch has  praised  in  certain  Greek  and  Barba- 
rian women  :  they  partook  more  of  the  nature 
of  their  sex  ;  or,  at  least,  they  departed  less 
from  its  character.  Their  first  quality  was 
decency.  Every  one  knows  the  story  of  Cato 
the  censor,  who  stabbed  a  Roman  Senator  for 
kissing  his  own  wife  in  the  presence  of  his  daugh- 
ter. 

To  these  austere  manners,  the  Roman  wo- 
men joined  an  enthusiastic  love  of  their  coun- 
try, which  discovered  itself  upon  many  great 
occasions.  On  the  death  of  Brutus,  they 
all  cloathed  themselves  in  mourning.  In  the 
time  of  Coriolanus  they  saved  the  city.  That 
incensed  warrior  who  had  insulted  the  senate 
and  the  priests,  and  who  was  superior  even  to 
the  pride  of  pardoning,  could  not  resist  the 
tears  and  iatreaties  of  the  women.  They  melted 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  31 

Ills  obdurate  heart.  The  senate  declared  them 
public  thanks,  ordered  the  men  to  give  place 
to  them  upon  ail  occasions,  caused  an  altar 
to  be  erected  for  them  on  the  spot  where  the 
mother  had  softened  her  son,  and  the  wife 
her  husband  ;  and  the  sex  were  permitted 
to  add  another  ornament  to  their  head-dress. 

It  is  to  be  wished  that  our  modern  ladies 
could  assign  as  good  a  reason  for  the  size  of 
their  caps. 

The  Roman  women  saved  the  city  a  se- 
cond time  when  besieged  by  Brennus.  They 
gave  up  ail  their  goid  as  its  ransom.  For 
that  instance  of  their  generosity,  the  senate 
granted  them  the  honour  of  having  funeral  o« 
rations  pronounced  in  the  rostrum,  in  common 
with  patriots  and  heroes. 

After  the  battle  of  Canna?,  when  Home  had 
no  other  treasures  but  the  virtues  of  their  ci- 
tizens, the  women  sacriiiced  both  their  gold 
and  their  jewels.  A  new  decree  rewarded 
their  zeal. 

Valerius  Maximus,  who  lived  in  the  reign 
of  Tiberius,  informs  us  that,  in  the  second 
triumvirate,  the  three  assassins  who  govern- 
ed Rome,  thirsting  after  gold,  no  less  than 
blood,  and  having  already  practised  every 
species  of  robbery,  and  worn  out  every  me- 
thod of  plunder,  resolved  to  tax  the  women, 
They  imposed  a  heavy  contribution  upon  each 
of  them.  The  women  sought  an  orator  to 
defend  their  cause,  but  found  none.  Nobody 
would  reason  against  those  who  had  the  power 
of  life  and  death.  The  daughter  of  thej:ele- 
brated  Hortensius alone  appeared.  She  revived 


32  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

the  memory  of  her  fathers  abilities  &c  support, 
ed  with  intrepidity  her  own  eause,  and  that  of 
her  sex.  The  ruffians  blushed  and  revoked 
their  orders. 

Hortensia  was  conducted  home  in  triumph, 
and  had  the  honour  of  having  given,  in  one 
day,  an  example  of  courage  to  men,  a  pat* 
tern  of  eloquence  to  women,  and  a  lesson  of 
humanity  to  tyrants. 

But  the  rera  cf  the  talents  of  women  at 
Rome  is  to  be  found  under  the  emperors.  So- 
ciety was  then  more  perfected  by  opulence, 
by  luxury,  by  the  use  and  abuse  of  the  arts, 
and  by  commerce.  Their  retirement  was 
then  less  strict  ;  their  genius,  being  more  ac- 
tive, was  more  exerted  ;  their  heart  had  new 
wants ;  the  idea  of  reputation  sprung  up  in  their 
minds  ;  their  leisure  increased  with  the  di- 
vision of  employments. 

During  upwards  of  six  hundred  years,  the 
virtues  had  been  found  sufficient  to  please. 
They  now  found  it  necessary  to  call  in  the 
accomplishments.  They  were  desirous  to  join 
admiration  to  esteem,  till  they  learned  to  ex- 
ceed esteem  itself.  For  in  all  countries,  in 
proportion  as  the  love  of  virtue  diminishes,  we 
find  the  love  of  talents  to  increase. 

A  thousand  causes  concurred  to  produce 
this  revolution  of  manneis  among  the  Ro- 
mans. The  vast  inequality  of  ranks,  the  enor- 
mous fortunes  of  individuals,  the  ridicule,, 
affixed  by  the  imperial  court  to  mcrai  ideas, 
all  contributed  to  hasten  the  period  of  cor- 
ruption. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  33 

There  were  still,  however,  some  great  and 
virtuous  characters  among  the  Roman  wo- 
men. Portia,  the  daughter  of  Cato,  and  wife 
of  Brutus,  in  the  conspiracy  against  Caesar, 
shewed  herself  worthy  to  be  associated  with 
the  first  of  human  kind,  and  trusted  with  the 
fate  of  empires.  After  the  battle  of  Philippi, 
she  would  neither  survive  liberty  nor  Brutus, 
but  died  with  the  bold  intrepidity  of  Cato. 

The  example  of  Portia  was  followed  by 
that  of  Arria,  who  seeing  her  husband  hesi- 
tating and  afraid  to  die,  in  order  to  encourage 
him,  pierced  her  own  breast  and  delivered  to 
him  the  dagger  with  a  smile. 

The  name  of  Arria's  husband  was  Paetus. 
The  manner  of  their  death  has  furnished 
Martial  with  the  subject  of  an  elegant  epi- 
gram, which  may  be  thus  paraphrased ; 

'<  When  ro  hsr  husband  Arria  gave  the  sword, 

Which  from  her  ch33ie,  her  bleeding  breast  she  drsw  j 

She  said,  My  Pl?(iis>  this   I  do  not  fear  ; 

But  0  /  ths  wound  that  must  h  made  by  you  / 

ohe  could  no  merer- hut  on  her  Pectus  siiil 

She  fix'd  her  feeble,  her  f xpirino  eyes  ; 

And  when  she  saw  him  raise  the  pointed  sr*el, 

She  stnik,  and  seem'd  to  3ay  /Void  A^ria  dks  !'* 

Paulinia  too,  the  wife  of  Seneca,  caused: 
her  veins  to  be  opened  at  the  same  time  with 
her  husband's  ;  but  being  forced  to  live,  dur- 
ing the  few  years  which  she  survived  him, 
"  she  bore  in  her  countenance/'  says  Tacitus, 
if  the  honourable  testimony  of  her  love,  a 
paleness,  which  proved  that  part  of  her  blood 
had  sympath.  issued  with  the  blood  of 

her  spouse," 

-dr..  D.3- 


34  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

The  same  exalted  virtues  were  displayed, 
though  in  a  different  manner,  by  Agrippina, 
the  wife  of  Germanicus ;  who,  naturally 
haughty  and  sensible,  after  the  death  of  that 
great  man,  buried  herself  in  retirement  in  ail 
the  bloom  of  youth  ;  and  who,  neither  bend- 
ing her  stateliness  under  Tiberius,  nor  allow- 
ing herself  to  be  corrupted  by  the  manners  of 
her  age — as  implacable  in  her  haired  to  the 
tyrant,  as  she  had  been  faithful  to  her  hus- 
band— spent  her  life  in  lamenting  the  one, 
and  in  detesting  the  other.  Nor  should  the 
celebrated  Epiniana  be  forgot,  whom  Ves- 
pasian ought  to  have  admired,  but  whom  he 
so  basely  put  to  death. 

To  take  notice  of  all  the  celebrated  wo- 
men of  the  empire,  would  much  exceed  the 
bounds  of  the  present  undertaking.  But  the 
empress  Julia,  the  wife  of  Septimius  Severus, 
possessed  a  species  of  merit  so  very  different 
from  any  of  those  already  mentioned,  as  to 
claim  particular  attention. 

This  lady  was  born  in  Syria,  and  the 
daughter  of  a  priest  of  the  sun.  It  was  pre- 
dicted that  she  should  rise  to  sovereign  dig- 
nity ;  and  her  character  justified  the  prophecy. 

Julia,  while  on  the  throne,  loved,  or  pre- 
tended passionately  to  love,  letters.  Either 
from  taste,  from  a  desire  to  instruct  herself, 
from  a  love  of  renown,  or  possibly  from  all 
these  together,  she  spent  her  life  with  philos- 
ophers. Her  rank  of  empress  would  not,  per- 
haps, have  been  sufficient  to  subdue  those 
bold  spirits ;  but  she  joined  to  that  the  more 
powerful   influences  of  wit  and   beauty.— 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  35 

These  three  kinds  of  empire  rendered  less 
necessary  to  her  that  which  consists  only  in 
art;  and"  which,  attentive  to  their  tastes  and 
their  weaknesses,  governs  great  minds  by  lit- 
tle means. 

It  is  said  that  she  was  a  philosopher.  Her 
philosophy,  however,  did  not  extend  so  far  as 
to  give  chastity  to  her  manners.  Her  hus- 
band, who  did  not  love  her,  valued  her  under- 
standing so  much,  that  he  consulted  her 
upon  all  occasions.  She  governed  in  the  same 
manner  und.r  his  son. 

Julia  was.  in  short,  an  empress  and  a  politi- 
cian, occupied  at  the  same  time  about  litera- 
ture and  affairs  of  state,  while  she  mingled 
her  pleasures  freely  with  both.  She  had  cour- 
tiers for  her  lovers,  scholars  for  her  friends, 
and  philosophers  for  her  counsellors.  In  the 
midst  of  a  society,  where  she  reigned  and 
was  instructed,  Julia  arrived  at  the  highest 
celebrity ;  but  as,  among  all  her  excellencies, 
we  find  not  those  of  her  sex,  the  virtues  of  a 
woman,  our  admiration  is  lost  in  blame.  In 
her  life  time  she  obtained  more  praise  than 
respect :  and  posterity,  while  it  has  done  jus- 
tice to  her  talents  and  her  accomplishments, 
has  agreed  to  deny  her  esteem. 

At  last,  in  following  the  course  of  history, 
the  famous  Zenobia  presents  herself:  she 
was  worthy  to  have  been  a  pupil  of  Lvngirws; 
for  she  knew  how  to  write,  as  well  as  how  to 
conquer.  When  she  was  afterward  unfortu- 
nate, she  was  so  with  dignity.  She  consoled 
herself  foe  the  loss  of  a  throne,  and  the  plea- 


3*  HJSTOJtfCAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ith  the  sweets  of  solitude 
and  -  :  of  reason; 


CHAPTER  IX. 

'Laws  and  Customs  respecting  the  Roman 
JFomen. 

THE  Roman  women,  as  well  as  the  Gre- 
cian, were  under  perpetual  guardianship;  and 
were  not  at  any  age,  nor  in  any  condition, 
ever  trusted  with  the  management  of  their 
own  fortunes. 

Every  father  had  a  power  of  life  and  death- 
over  liis  own  daughters  :  but  this  power  was 
not  restricted  to  daughters  only-;  it  extended 
also  to  SOUS. 

The  Oppian  law  prohibited  women  from 
having  more  than  half  an  ounce  of  gold  em- 
ployed in  ornamenting  their  persons,  from 
wearing  clothes  of  divers  colours,  and  from 
riding  in  chariots,,  either  in  the  city,  or  a  thou- 
sand paces  round  it. 

They  were  strictly  forbid  to  use  wine,  or 
even  to  have  in  their  possession  the  key  of 
any  place  where  it  was  kept.  For  either  of 
these  faults  they  were  liable  to  be  divorced 
by  their  husbands.  So  careful  were  the  Ro- 
mans in  restraining  their  women  from  wine, 
that  they  are  supposed  to  have  first  introduc- 
ed the  custom  of  saluting-  their  female  rela- 
tions and  acquaintances,  on  entering  into  the 
house  of  a  friend  or  neighbor,  that  they  might 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  37 

discover  by  their  breath,  whether  they  had 
tasted  any  of  that  liquor. 

This  strictness,  however,  began  in  time  to 
be  relaxed;  until  at  last,  luxury  becoming 
too  strong  for  every  law,  the  women  indulged 
themselves  in  equal  liberties  with  the  men. 

But  such  was  not  the  case  in  the  earlier 
ages  of  Rome.  Romulus  even  permitted  hus- 
bands to  kill  their  wives,  if  they  found  them 
drinking  wire.  And  if  we  may  believe  Va- 
lerius Maximus,  Egnatius  Metellus,  having 
detected  his  wife  drinking  out  of  a  cask,  ac- 
tually made  use  of  this  permission,  and  was 
acquitted  by  Romulus. 

Fabius  Pictoi  relates,  that  the  parents  of  a 
Roman  lady,  having  detected  her  picking  the 
lock  of  a  chest  which  contained  some  wine, 
shut  her  up  and  starved  her  to  death. 

Women  were  liable  to  be  divorced  by  their 
husbands  almost  at  pleasure,  provided  the 
portion  was  returned  which  they  had  brought 
along  with  them.  They  were  also  liable  to 
be  divorced  for  barrenness,  which,  if  it  could 
be  construed  into  a  fault,  was  at  least  the  fault 
of  nature,  and  might  sometimes  be  that  of 
the  husband. 

A  few  sumptuary  laws,  a  subordination  to 
the  men,,  and  a  total  want  of  authority,  do  not 
so  much  affect  the  sex,  as  to  be  coldly  and  in- 
delicately treated  by  their  husbands. 

Such  a  treatment  is  touching  them  in  the 
tenderest  part.  Such,  however,  we  have  rea- 
son to  believe,  they  often  met  with  from  the 
Romans,  who  had  not  yet  learned,  as  in  mo. 
dern  times,  to  blend  the  rigidity  of  the  patriot, 


3S  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

and  roughness  of  the  warrior,  with  that  soft 
and  indulging  behaviour,  so  conspicuous  in 
our  modern  patriots  and  heroes. 

Husbands  among  the  Romans  not  only 
themselves  behaved  roughly  to  their  wives, 
but  even  sometimes  permitted  their  servants 
and  slaves  to  do  the  same.  The  principal 
eunuch  of  Justinian  the  second,  threatened  to 
chastise  the  Empress,  his  master's  wife,  in 
the  manner  that  children  are  chastised  at 
school,  if  she  did  not  obey  his  orders. 

With  regard  to  the  private  diversions  of 
the  Roman  ladies,  history  is  silent.  Their 
public  ones  were  such  as  were  common  to 
both  sexes;  as  bathing,  theatrical  representa- 
tions, horse-races,  shows  of  wild  beasts, 
which  fought  against  one  another,  and  some- 
times against  men,  whom  the  emperors,  in 
the  plentitude  of  their  despotic  power,  order- 
ed to  engage  them. 

The  Romans,  of  both  sexes,  spent  a  great" 
deal  of  time  at  the  baths ;  which  at  first, 
perhaps,  were  interwoven  with  their  religion, 
but  at  last  were  only  considered  as  refine- 
ments in  luxury.  They  were  places  of  pub- 
lic resort,  where  all  the  news  of  the  times 
were  to  be  heard,  where  people  met  v.  it'll 
their  acquaintances  and  friends,  where  public 
libraries  were  kept  for  such  as  chose  to  read, 
and  where  poets  recited  their  works  to  such 
as  had  patience  to  hear. 

In  the  earlier  periods  of  Rome,  separate 
baths  were  appropriated  to  each  sex.  Luxury 
by  degrees  getting  the  better  of  decency,  the 
men  and  women  at  last  bathed  promiscuously 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  3* 

« 
together.  Though  this  indecent  manner  of 
bathing  was  prohibited  by  the  empenor  Ad- 
rian;  yet,  in  a  short  time,  inclination  over- 
came the  prohibition  ;  and,  in  spite  of  every 
effort,  promiscuous  bathing  continued  until 
the  time  of  Constantine,  who,  by  the  coer- 
cive force  of  the  legislative  authority,  and  the 
rewards  and  terrors  of  the  Christian  religion, 
put  a  final  stop  to  it. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Of  the  Effects  of  *  Christianity oh  the  Man- 
tiers  of  Women. 

PHILOSOPHY  had  no  fixed  principles 
for  women.  The  religion  of  antiquity  was 
only  a  kind  of  sacred  policy,  which  had  ra- 
ther ceremonies  than  precepts.  The  ancients 
honored  their  gods  as  we  honour  our  great 
men  :  they  offered  them  incense,  and  expect- 
ed their  protection  in  exchange.  The  gods 
were  their  guardians,  not  their  legislators. 

Christianity  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  legis- 
lation :  it  imposed  laws  for  the  regulation  of 
manners  ;  it  strengthened  the  marriage  knot ; 
to  the  political  it  added  a  sacred  tie,  and  plac- 
ed the  matrimonial  engagements  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Heaven. 

Not  satisfied  with  regulating  the  actions, 
Christianity  extended  its  empire  even  to  the 
thoughts.  Above  all,  it  combated  the  senses. 
It  waged  war  even  with  such  inanimate  ob- 
jects as  might  be  the  objects  of  seduction,  or 


4o         historical;  sketches  of 

were  the  means  of  seduction.  In  a  word, 
rousing'  vice  in  her  secret  cell,  it  made  her  be- 
come her  own  tormentor. 

The  legislation  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
referred  the  motive  of  evzry  action  to  the  po- 
litical interest  of  society.  But  the  new  and 
sacred  legislation,  inspiring  only  contempt  for 
this  world,  referred  all  things  to  a  future  and 
very  different  state  of  existence. 

The  detachment  of  the  senses,  the  reign  of 
the  soul,  and  an  inexpressibly  sublime  and  su- 
pernatural something,  which  blended  itself 
with  both,  became  the  doctrine  of  a  body  of  the 
people.  Hence  the  vow  of  continence,  and 
consecration  of  celibacy. 

Life  was  a  combat.  The  sanctity  of  the 
manners  threw  a  veil  over  nature  and  over 
society  ;  Beauty  was  afraid  to  please  ;  Valor 
dropt  his  spear  ;  the  passions  were  taught  to 
submit  ;  the  severity  cf  the  soul  increased 
every  day,  by  the  sacrifices  of  the  senses. 

The  women,  who  generally  possess  a  lively 
imagination,  and  a  warm  heart,  devoted  them- 
selves to  virtues,  which  were  as  flattering  as 
they  were  difficult,  and  no  less  elevated  than 
austere. 

.  The  disciples  of  Christianity  were  taught 
to  love  and  comfort  one  another,  like  children 
of  the  same  family.  In  consequence  of  this 
doctrine,  the  more  tender  sex,  converting  to 
pity  the  sensibility  of  nature,  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  service  of  indigence  and  distress. 
Delicacy  learned  to  overcome  disgust.  The 
tears  of  pity  were  seen  to  flow  in  the  huts  of 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  4* 

misery,  and  in  the  cells  of  disease,  with  the 
friendly  sympathy  of  a  sister. 

The  persecutions  which  arose  in  the  em- 
pire, soon  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
afforded  that  religion  a  new  opportunity  of 
discovering  its  efficacy.  To  preserve  the 
faith,  it  was  often  necessary  to  suffer  imprison- 
ment, banishment  and  death.  Courage  then 
became  necessary. 

There  is  a  deliberate  courage  which  is  the 
result  of  reason,  and  which  is  equally  bold  and 
calm  :  it  is  the  courage  of  philosophers  and  of 
heroes.  There  is  a  courage  which  springs 
from  the  imagination,  which  is  ardent  and 
precipitate ;  such  is  most  commonly  the 
courage  of  martyrs,  or  religious  courage. 

The  courage  of  the  Christian  women  was 
founded  upon  the  noblest  motives.  Animated 
by  the  glorious  hope  of  immortality,  they  em- 
braced* flames  and  gibbets,  and  offered  their 
delicate  and  Feeble  bodies  to  the  most  excru- 
ciating tortures. 

This  revolution  in  the  ideas  and  in  the  man- 
ners was  followed  by  another  in  the  writings. 
Such  as  made  women  their  subject  became  as 
austere  and  seraphic  as  they. 

Almost  all  the  doctors  of  those  times,  raised 
by  the  church  both  to  the  rank  of  orators  and 
of  saints,  emulated  each  other  in  praising  die 
Christian  women.  But  he  wmo  speaks  of 
them  with  most  eloquence  and  with  most 
zeal,  is  Saint  Jerome  ;  who,  born  with  a  soul 
of  fire,  spent  twenty-four  years,  in  writing,  in 
combating  and  in  conquering  himself. 
E 


42  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

The  manners  of  this  saint  were  probably 
more  severe  than  his  thoughts.  He  had  a 
number  of  illustrious  women  at  Rome  among 
his  diseiples.  Thus  surrounded  with  beauty, 
though  he  escaped  weakness,  yet  he  was  not 
able  to  escape  calumny  At  last,  flying  from 
the  world,  from  women,  and  from  himself,  he 
retired  to  Palestine;  where  ail  that  he  had  fled 
from  still  pursued  him,  tormented  him  under 
the  penitential  sack  loth,  and  in  the  middle  of 
solitary  desarts,  re-echoed  in  his  ears  the  tumult 
of  Rome. 

Such  was  Saint  Jerome,  the  most  eloquent 
panegyrist  of  die  Christian  women  of  the 
fourth  century.  That  warm  and  pious  wri- 
ter, though  generally  harsh  and  obscure, 
softens  his  style,  in  a  thousand  places,  to 
praise  a  great  number  of  Roman  women,  who 
at  the  Capitol,  had  embraced  Christianity,  and 
studied  in  Rome  the  language  of  the  Hebrews, 
that  they  might  read  and  understand  the 
books  of  Moses. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Of  the  Women  in  Savage  Life. 

MAN,  in  a  state  of  barbarity,  equally  cruel 
and  indolent,  active  by  necessity,  but  natural- 
ly  inclined  to  repose,  is  acquainted  with  little 
more  than  the  physical  effects  of  love  ;  and, 
having  none  of  those  moral  ideas  which  only 
can  soften  the  empire  of  force,  he  is  led  to 
consider  it  as  his  supreme  law,  subjecting  to 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  43 

his  despotism  those  whom  reason  had  made 
his  equals,  but  whose  imbecility  betrayed 
them  to  his  strength. 

Cast  in  the  lap  of  naked  nature,  and  expo- 
sed to  every  hardship,  the  forms  of  women,  in 
savage  life,  are  but  little  engaging.  With 
nothing  that  deserves  the  name  of  culture, 
their  latent  qualities,  if  they  have  any,  are  like 
the  diamond,  while  inclosed  in  the  rough  Hint, 
incapable  of  shewing  any  lustre.  Thus  des- 
titute of  every  thing  by  which  they  can  excite 
love,  or  acquire  esteem  ;  destitute  of  beaut}* 
to  charm,  or  art  to  soothe,  the  tyrant  man  ; 
they  are  by  him  destined  to  perform  every 
mean  and  servile  office.  In  this  the  American 
and  other  savage  women  differ  widely  from 
those  of  Asia,  who,  if  they  are  destitute  of  the 
qualifications  necessary  for  gaining  esteem, 
have  beauty,  ornaments,  and  the  art  of  excit- 
ing love. 

In  civilized  countries  a  woman  acquires 
some  power  by  being  the  mother  of  a  numer- 
ous family,  who  obey  her  maternal  authority, 
and  defend  her  honour  and  her  life.  But, 
even  as  a  mother,  a  female  savage  has  not 
much  advantage.  Her  children,  daily  accus- 
tomed to  see  their  father  treat  her  nearly  as  a 
slave,  soon  begin  to  imitate  his  example,  and 
either  pay  little  regard  to  her  authority,  or 
shake  it  off  altogether. 

Of  this  the  Hottentot  boys  afford  a  remark- 
able proof.  They  are  brought  up  by  the  wo- 
men, till  they  are  about  fourteen  years  of  age. 
Then,  with  several  ceremonies,  they  are  initi- 
ated into  die   society   of   men.     After  this 


44  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

initiation  is  over,  it  is  reckoned  manly  for  a 
boy  to  take  the  earliest  opportunity  of  return- 
ing to  the  hut  of  his  mother,  and  beating  her 
in  the  most  barbarous  manner,  to  show  that 
lie  is  now  out  of  her  jurisdiction.  Should 
the  mother  complain  to  the  men,  they  would 
only  applaud  the  boy,  For  shewing  so  laudable 
a  contempt  for  the  society  and  authority  of  wo-. 
men. 

"Nothing,"  says  Professor  Miller,  speak- 
ing of  the  women  of  barbarous  nations,  *'  can 
exceed  the  dependence  and  subjection  in 
which  they  are  kept,  or  the  toil  and  drudgery 
which  they  are  obliged  to  undergo.  The 
husband  when  he  is  not  engaged  in  some 
warlike  exercise,  indulges  himself  in  idleness, 
znd  devolves  upon  his  wife  the  whole  bin  den 
of  his  domestic  affairs.  He  disdains  to  assist 
her  in  any  of  those  servile  employments.  She 
sleeps  in  a  different  bed,  and  is  seldom  per- 
mitted to  have  any  conversation  or  corres- 
pondence with  him." 

In  the  Brazils,  the  females  are  obliged  to 
follow  their  husbands  to  war,  supply  the  place 
of  beasts  of  burden,  and  to  carry  on  their 
backs  their  children,  provisions,  hammocks, 
and  every  thing  in  the  field. 

In  the  Isthmus  of  Dm  ien,  they  are  sent 
alone;  with  warriors  and  travellers,  as  we  do 
baggage  horses.  Even  their  queen  appeared 
before  some  English  gentlemen,  carrying  her 
suckling  child  wrapt  in  a  red  blanket. 

The  women  among  the  Indians  of  Ameri- 
ca are  wh.it  the  Helots  were  among  the  Spar* 
tans,  a  vancjuished  people  obliged  to  toil  for 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  45 

their  conquerors.  Hence  on  the  banks  of 
Oroonoko  we  have  heard  of  mothers  slaying 
their  daughters  out  of  compassion,  and  smoth- 
ering them  in  the  hour  of  their  birth.  They 
consider  this  barbarous  pity  as  a  virtue. 

Father  Joseph  Gurnilia,  reproving  one  o: 
them  for  this  inhuman  crime,  received  the 
following  answer  : — "  I  wish  to  God,  Father, 
I  wish  to  God,   that   my  mother    had,    by 
ray  death,  prevented  the  manifold  distresses 
I     have     endured,     and   have    yet    to    en- 
dure   as  long  as   I  live.       Had  she    kindly 
stifled  me  in  my  birth,  I  should  not  have  felt 
the  pain  of  death,  nor  the  numberless  other 
pains    to    which    life    has     subjected    me. 
Consider,  Father,  our  deplorable  condition. 
Our  husbands  go  to  hunt  with  their  bows  and 
arrows,    and  trouble  themselves  no  farther  : 
we  are  dragged  along  with  one  infant  at  our 
breast,  and  another  in  a  basket.     They  return 
in  the  evening  without  any  burden  ;  we  return 
with  the  burden  of  our  children-     Though 
tired  with  long  walking,  we   are  not  allowed 
to  sleep,  but  must  labor  the  whole  night,  in 
grinding  maize  to  make  chica  for  them.  They 
get   drunk  and  in  their  drunkenness  beat  us, 
draw  us  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  tread  us 
under  foot.     What  then  have  we  to  comfort 
w.i  for  slavery,  perhaps  of  twenty  years  ? — A 
young  wife  is    brought  us  and  permitted  to 
abuse  us  and  our  children.     Can  human  na- 
ture endure  such  tyranny?   What  kindness 
can  we  shew  to  our  female  children,  equal  to 
that  of  reliving  them  from    such  servjty 
more  bitter  a  thousand  times  than  death?  J 
£  2 


46  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

repeat  again,  would  to  God  my  mother  had 
put  me  under  ground,  the  moment  I  was 
born." 

If  the  great  outlines  of  this  complaint  be 
true,  they  fully  evince  the  deplorable  condition 
of  savage  women  ;  and  that  they  are  probable, 
similar  instrances  among  barbarous  nations 
will  not  permit  us  to  doubt. 

"  The  men,"  says  Commodore  Bryon,  in 
his  account  of  the  inhabitants  of  South  Ame- 
rica, "  exercise  a  most  despotic  authority 
over  their  wives,  whom  they  consider  in 
the  same  view  they  do  any  other  part  of  their 
property,  and  dispose  of  them  accordingly. 
Even  their  common  treatment  of  them  is 
cruel.  For,  though  the  toil  and  hazard  of 
procuring  food  lies  entirely  on  the  wqmen, 
yet  they  are  not  sufFered  to  touch  any  part  of 
it,  until  the  husband  is  satisfied;  and  then  he 
assigns  them  their  portion,  which  is  generally 
very  scanty,  and  such  as  he  has  not  a  stomach 
for  himself." 

The  Greenlanders,  who  live  most  upon 
seals,  think  it  sufficient  to  catch  and  bring 
them  on  shore;  and  would  almost  rather 
submit  to  starve,  than  assist  their  women  in 
skinning,  dressing  or  dragging  the  cumbrous 
animals  home  to  their  huts. 

In  some  parts  of  America,  when  the  men 
kill  any  game  in  the  woods,  they  lay  it  at  the 
root  of  a  tree,  fix  a  mark  there,  and  travelling 
until  they  arrive  at  their  habitation,  send 
their  women  to  fetch  it ;  a  task  which  their 
own  laziness  and  pride  equally  forbid. 

Among  many  of  the  tribes  of  wandering 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  47 

Arabs,  the  women  are  not  only  obliged  to  do 
every  domestic  and  every  rural  work,  but 
also  to  feed,  to  dress,  and  saddle  the  horses, 
for  the  use  of  their  husbands. 

The  Moorish  women,  besides  doing  all  the 
same  kinds  of  drudgery,  i'.re  also  obliged  to 
cultivate  the  fields,  while  their  husbands  stand 
idle  spectators  of  the  toil,  or  sleep  inglorious 
beneath  a  neighbouring  shade. 

In  Madura  the  husband  generally  speaks  to 
his  wife  in  the  most  imperious  tone ;  while 
she  with  fear  and  trembling  approaches  him, 
waits  upon  him  while  at  meals,  and  pronoun- 
ces not  his  name,  but  with  the  addition  of 
every  dignifying  title  she  can  devise.  In  re- 
turn for  ail  this  submission,  he  frequently 
beats  and  abuses  her  in  the  most  barbarous 
manner.  Being  asked  the  reason  of  such  a 
behaviour,  one  of  them  answered,  "  As  our 
wives  are  so  much  our  inferiors,  why  should 
we  allow  them  to  eat  and  drink  with  us? — 
Why  should  they  not  serve  us  with  whatever 
we  call  for,  and  afterwards  sit  down  and  eat 
up  what  we  leave  ? — If  they  commit  faults, 
why  should  they  not  suffer  correction?  It  is 
their  business  only  to  bring  up  our  children, 
pound  our  rice,  make  our  oil,  and  do  every 
other  kind  of  drudgery,  purposes  to  which 
only  their  low  and  inferior  natures  are  adapt- 
ed." 

In  several  parts  of  America  women  are 
not  suffered  to  enter  into  their  temples,  or 
join  in  their  religious  assemblies.  In  the 
houses  where  the  chiefs  meet  to  consult  on 
the  affairs  of  state,  they  are  only  permitted  to 


4$  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

enter  and  seat  themselves  on  the  floor  en  each 
side  of  the  passage. 

The  Circassian  custom  of  breeding  young 
girls,  on  purpose  to  be  sold  in  the  public 
market  to .  the  highest  bidder,  is  generally 
known.  Perhaps,  however,  upon  minute  ex- 
amination, we  shall  find  that  women  are,  in 
some  degree,  bought  and  sold  in  every  coun- 
ty, whether  savage  or  civilized. 

The  following  remark  may  very  properly 
conclude  this  chapter :  As,  among  savages* 
we  almost  constantly  find  women  condemned 
to  every  species  of  slavish  drudgery  ;  so 
we  as  constantly  find  them  emerging  from 
this  state,  in  the  same  proportion  as  we  find 
the  men  emerging  from  ignorance  and  bru- 
tality. The  rank,  therefore,  and  condition  in 
which  we  find  women  in  any  country,  mark 
out  to  us  with  the  greatest  precision  the  ex- 
act point  in  the  scale  of  civil  society,  to 
which  the  people  of  such  country  have  arriv- 
ed. And,  indeed,  were  their  history  silent  on 
every  other  subject,  and  only  mentioned  the 
manner  in  which  they  treated  their  women, 
we  should  from  thence  be  enabled  to  form  a 
tolerable  judgment  of  the  barbarity  or  cul- 
ture of  their  manners. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

Of  the  Eastern  Women. 

THE  women  of  the  east  have,  in  general, 
always  exhibited  the  same  appearance.  Their 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  49 

manners,  customs  and  fashions,  u inalterable 
like  their  rocks,  have  stood  the  test  of  many 
revolving  ages.  Though  the  kingdoms  of 
their  country  have  often  changed  masters, 
though  they  have  submitted  to  the  arms  of 
almost  every  invader,  yet  the  laws  by  which 

ir  sex   are  governed   and   enslaved,  ha 
never  been  revised  nor  amended. 

Had  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Asi- 
atic women  been  subject  to  the  same  chan- 
ges as  they  are  in  Europe,  we  might  have 
expected  the  same  changes  in  the  sentiments 
and  writings  of  their  men.  But,  as  this  is  i 
the  case,  we  have  reason  to  presume  that  the 
sentiments  entertained  by  Solomon,  by  the 
apocryphal  writers,  and  by  the  ancient  Bra- 
mins,  are  the  sentiments  of  this  day. 

Though  the  confinement  of  women  be  an 
unlawful  exertion  of  superior  power,  yet  i: 
affords  a  proof  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
east  are  advanced  some  degrees  farther  in  ci- 
vilization than  mere  savages,  who  have  hardly 
any  love  and  consequently  ats  little  jealousy. 
This  confinement  is  not  vuy  rigid  in  the 
empire  of  the  Mogul.  It  is,  perhaps,  less  so 
in  China,  and  iii  SA]rdn  h  ■  ists. 

Though  women  are  confined  in  the  Turk- 
ish empire,  they  expedience  every  otl 
gehce.  They  are  alio  wed,  at  stated  ti;nes,  to 
go  to  the  public  baths;  their  ap  irtmeatfs  are 
richly,  if  not  elegantly  furnished;  i!r-y  have 
a  train  of  female  slaves  to  serve  and  amuse 
them;  and  their  persons  are  adorned  vviai 
every  costly  ornament  which  their  fathers  or 
husbands  can  afford. 


50  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Notwithstanding  the  strictness  of  confine- 
ment in  Persia,  their  women  are  treated  with 
several  indulgences.  They  are  allowed  a  vari- 
ety of  precious  liquors,  of  costly  perfumes, 
and  beautiful  slaves :  their  apartments  are 
furnished  with  the  most  elegant  hangings  and 
carpets ;  their  persons  ornamented  with  the 
finest  silks,  and  even  loaded  with  the  spark- 
ling jewels  of  the  east.  But  all  these  trap- 
pings, however  elegant,  or  however  gilded, 
are  only  like  the  golden  chains  sometimes 
made  use  of  to  bind  a  royal  prisoner. 

Solomon  had  a  great  number  of  queens 
and  concubines;  but  a  petty  Hindoo  chief 
has  been  known  to  have  two  thousand  women 
confined  within  the  walls  of  his  harem,  and 
appropriated  entirely  to  his  pleasure.  Nothing 
less  than  unlimited  power  in  the  husband  is 
able  to  restrain  women  so  confined,  from  the 
utmost  disorder  and  confusion.  They  may 
repine  in  secret,  but  they  must  clothe  their 
features  with  cheerfulness  when  their  lord  ap- 
pears. Contumacy  draws  down  on  them  im- 
mediate punishment:  they  are  degraded, 
chastised,  divorced,  shut  up  in  dark  dun- 
geons, and  sometimes  put  to  death. 

Their  persons,  however,  are  so  sacred, 
that  they  must  net  in  the  least  be  violated, 
nor  even  looked  at,  by  any  one  but  their  hus- 
bands. This  female  privilege  has  given  an 
opportunity  of  executing  many  conspiracies. 
Warriors,  in  such  vehicles  as  are  usually  em- 
ployed to  carry  women,  have  been  often  con- 
vey ul,  without  examination,  into  the  apart- 
ments of  the  great ;  from  whence,  instead  of 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  51 

issuing  forth  in  the  smiles  of  beauty,  they 
have  rushed  out  in  the  terror  of  arms,  and 
laid  the  tyrants  at  their  feet. 

No  stranger  is  ever  allowed  to  see  the  wo- 
men of  Hindostan,  nor  can  even  brothers  visit 
their  sisters  in  private.  To  be  conscious  of 
the  existence  of  a  man's  wives  seems  a  crime ; 
and  he  lookssurfy  and  offended,  if  their  health 
is  enqe::red  after.  In  every  country,  honour 
consists  in  something  upon  which  the  posses- 
sor sets  the  high  lie.  This,  with  the 
Hindoo,  is  the  chastity  of  his  wives;  a  point 
without  which  he  must  net  live. 

In  the  midst  of  slaughter  and  devastation, 
throughout  all  the  east,  the  harem  is  a  sanc- 
tuary. Ruffians,  covered  with  the  blood  of 
a  husband,  shrink  back  with  veneration  from 
the  secret  apartment  of  his  wives. 

At  Constantinople,  when  the  sultan  sends 
an  order  to  strangle  a  state  criminal,  and 
on  his  effects,  the  officers  who  execute  it  en- 
ter hot  into  the  harem,   nor  touch  any  thing 
belonging  to  the  women, 

Mr.  Pope  is  very  far  from  doing  justice  to 
the  fair  sex,  when  he  says — 

"  West  women  have  no  character  at  all." 

The  character,  however,  of  the  Asiatic  ladies 
cannot  be  easily  ascertained.  The  narrow  and 
limited  sphere  in  which  they  move,  almost 
entirely  divests  them  of  every  characteristic 
distinction  which  arises  from  liberty  and  soci- 
ety. Shut  up  forever  in  impenetrable  harems, 
they  can  hardly  be  called  creatures  of  the 
world,  having  no  intercourse  with  it,  and  no 


52  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

use  for  the  social  and  economical  virtues 
which  adorn  its  citizens.  Frugality  and  in- 
dustry are  entirely  out  of  their  power.  To 
the  joys  of  friendship  they  are,  perhaps,  entire 
Strangers.  The  nan  treat  them  in  such  a 
manner,  that  it  is  impossible  they  can  esteem 
them.  The  women  are  their  constant  rivals. 
As  they  are  net  allowed  to  attend  public  wor- 
ship, they  can  have  no  other  religion  than  the 
silent  adoration  of  the  heart.  With  respect  to 
chastity,  the  manner  in  which  they  are  dis- 
posed of  to  their  husbands,  and  the  treatment 
they  meet  with  from  them,  are  the  most  un- 
likely methods  in  the  world  to  make  them 
famous  for  that  virtue. 

Those  females  who  are  the  least  exposed 
to  feel  the  oppressive  effects  of  despotism, 
employ  themselves  in  a  manner  adapted  to 
the  sex.  To  the  women  of  Hindostan  we 
owe  a  great  part  of  those  works  of  taste,  so 
elegantly  executed  on  the  manufactures  of 
the  east;  the  beautiful  colourings  and  exqui- 
site designings  of  their  printed  cottens  ;  all 
the  embroidery,  and  a  part  of  that  fillagree 
work,  which  so  much  exceeds  any  thing  in 
Europe.  ri  he  deficiency  of  taste,  therefore, 
with  which  we  so  commonly  charge  'them, 
does  not  seem  to  be  so  much  a  defect  of  na- 
ture, as  of  education.  Brought  up  in  luxu- 
rious indolence,  excluded  horn  all  the  busy 
scenes  of  life,  and,  like  children,  provided 
with  all  those  things,  the  acquisition  of  which 
calls  forth  the  powers  of  the  mind  and  body, 
they  seldom  have  ai  y  motive  to  exert  them- 
selves; but  when  such  a  motive  exists,  they 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  53 

have    often  exhibited  the  most  convincing 
proofs  of  their  ability. 

Every  Turkish  seraglio  and  harem  has  a 
garden  adjoining  to  it,  and  in  the  middle  of 
this  garden  a  large  room,  more  or  less  deco- 
rated, according  to  the  wealth  of  the  proprie- 
tor. Htre  the  ladies  spend  most  of  their  time, 
with  their  attendant  nymphs  around  them, 
employed  at  their  music,  embroidery  or  loom. 

In  these  retreats,  perhaps,  they  find  more 
real  pleasure  and  enjoyment,  than  in  the  un- 
bounded freedom  of  Europe,  where  love,  in- 
terest and  ambition  so  often  destroy  their 
peace ;  and  where  scandal,  with  her  envenom- 
ed shafts,  too  often  strikes  equally  at  guilt  and 
innocence. 

It  has  long  been  a  custom  among  the  gran- 
dees of  Asia,  to  entertain  story-tellers  of  both 
sexes,  who  like  the  bards  of  ancient  Europe, 
divert  them  with  tales,  and  little  histories, 
mostly  on  the  subject  of  bravery  and  love. 
These  often  amuse  the  women,  and  beguile 
the  cheerless  hours  of  the  harem,  by  calling 
up  images  to  their  minds,  which  their  eyes 
are  forever  debarred  from  seeing. 

All  their  other  amusements,  as  well  as  this, 
are  indolently  voluptuous.  They  spend  a 
great  part  of  their  time  in  lolling  on  silken 
sofas ;  while  a  train  of  female  slaves,  scarcely 
less  voluptuous,  attend  to  sing  to  them,  to  fan 
them,  and  to  rub  their  bodies;  an  exercise 
which  the  Easterns  enjoy  with  a  sort  of  placid 
ccstacy,  as  it  promotes  the  circulation  of  their 
languid  blood. 


54  HISTORICAL  SKETCHED  OF 

They  bathe  themselves  in  rose  water,  and 
other  baths,  prepared  with  the  precious  odours 
of  the  East.  They  perfume  themselves  with 
costly  essences,  and  adorn  their  persons,  that 
they  may  please  the  tyrant  with  whom  they 
are  obliged  to  live. 

At  the  court  of  the  Mogul,  women  are  fre- 
quently admitted  into  a  gallery,  with  a  cur- 
tain before  them,  through  which,  without  be- 
ing seen,  they  can  see  and  hear  what  passes. 
It  has  sometimes  happened  that  the  throne 
has  been  occupied  by  a  woman,  who  never 
appearing  in  open  court,  issued  her  imperial 
mandates  from  behind  this  curtain,  like  an  in- 
visible being,  producing  the  greatest  effects, 
while  the  cause  of  them  was  wrapt  in  dark- 
ness and  obscurity. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Of  the  Chinese  Women. 

Of  all  the  other  Asiatics,  the  Chinese 
have,  perhaps,  the  best  title  to  modesty.— 
Even  the  men  wrap  themselves  closely  up  in 
their  garments,  and  reckon  it  indecent  to  dis- 
cover any  more  of  their  arms  and  legs  than 
is  necessary.  The  women,  still  more  closely 
wrapped  up,  never  discover  a  naked  hand 
even,  to  their  nearest  relations,  if  they  can 
possibly  avoid  it.  Every  part  of  their  dress, 
every  part  of  their  behaviour  is  calculated  to 
preserve  decency,  and  inspire  respect.  And, 
what  adds  the  greatest  lustre  to  their  charms, 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  55 

is  that  uncommon  modesty  which  appears  in 
every  look  and  in  every  action. 

Charmed,  no  doubt,  with  so  engaging  a 
deportment,  the  men  behave  to  them  in  a  re- 
ciprocal manner.  And,  that  their  virtue  may 
not  be  contaminated  by  the  neighbourhood  of 
vice,  the  legislature  takes  care  that  no  prosti- 
tutes shall  lodge  within  the  walls  of  any  of 
the  great  cities  of  China. 

Some,  however,  suspect  whether  this  ap- 
pearance of  modesty  be  any  thing  else  than 
the  custom  of  the  country  ;  and  allege  that, 
notwithstanding  so  much  seeming  decency 
and  decorum,  they  have  their  peculiar  modes 
of  intriguing,  and  embrace  every  possible 
opportunity  of  putting  them  in  practice;  and 
that,  in  these  intrigues,  they  frequently  scru- 
ple not  to  stab  the  paramour  they  had  invited 
to  their  arms,  as  the  surest  method  of  pre- 
venting detection  and  loss  of  character.  Such 
relations,  however,  arc  not  to  be  found  in  any 
of  our  modern  travellers,  whose  veracity  i  s 
most  to  be  depended  on.  A  few  perhaps,  of 
the  most  flagitious  may  ba  guilty  of  such 
rmous  crimes. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Of  the  TFives  of  the  Indian  Priests. 

THE  Bramins,  or  priests  of  India,  though, 
like  the  rest  of  their  countrymen,  thty  con- 
fine  their  women ;  yet,  by  treating  them  with 


56  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

lenity  and  indulgence,  they  secure  their  vir- 
tue by  attaching  their  hearts. 

Married  to  each  other  in  their  infancy, 
they  have  the  greatest  veneration  for  the  nup- 
tial tie.  Their  mutual  fondness  increases  with 
their  strength;  and,  in  riper  years,  all  the 
glory  of  the  wives  consists  in  pleasing  their 
husbands.  This  duty  they  consider  as  one 
of  the  most  sacred  of  their  holy  religion,  and 
which  the  gods  will  not  suffer  them  to  ne- 
glect with  impunity. 

While  the  rest  of  the  Hindoo  women  take 
every  opportunity  to  elude  their  keepers, 
these  voluntarily  confine  themselves,  at  least 
from  the  company  and  conversation  of  all 
strangers,  and  in  every  respect  copy  that  sim- 
plicity of  life  and  manners  for  which  their 
husbands  are  so  remarkable, 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A  comparison  between  the  Mahcffietam  end 

Dutch,  with  regard  to  their  Women. 

"  WOMEN  have  naturally  most  power," 
says  an  ingenious  la'dy,*  "  in  those  countries 
where  the  laws  relative  to  them  are  most  ri- 
gid ;  and,  wherever  legislators  have  most 
abridged  their  privileges,  their  power  is  most 
confessed." 

.    If  we  take  a  slight  view  of  the  laws  rela- 
tive to  the  sex  amongst  people   of  different 

*  Mrs.  Kimlersli  y. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  57 

characters,  and  the  customs  which  seem  to 
throw  light  upon  the  subject,  it  will  appear 
that  women  have  often  been,  and  still  are,  re- 
strained,  confined,  and  subjected  to  severe 
laws,  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  their 
natural  power ;  and  that  they  are,  by  the  laws 
and  usages,  encouraged  and  supported  in  pro- 
portion to  their  want  of  it. 

Of  this  fact,  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
Mahometans  in  Asia  respecting  women,  and 
the  laws  and  manners  relative  to  them  amongst 
the  people  of  Holland,  are  a  sufficient  proof, 

A  Mahometan  places  his  supreme  delight 
in  his  seraglio :  his  riches  are  bestowed  in 
purchasing  women  to  fill  it :  and,  in  propor- 
tion to  his  fortune,  his  females  are  beautiful 
and  numerous.  In  women  he  places  his 
chief  amusement,  his  luxury,  his  present  hap- 
piness and  future  reward. 

But  this  violent  fondness  for  the  sex,  divid- 
ed as  it  is  betwixt  many  favorites,  informs 
him  that  other  men  have  the  same  violent 
passions.  The  beauties  of  his  seraglio,  which 
delight  him,  he  knows  would  delight  other 
men,  could  they  obtain  a  sight  of  them.— 
Hence  arise  the  strict  confinement  of  his 
women,  the  guards  of  eunuchs,  and  every 
possible  bar  to  their  being  visible  to  ether 
men.  Hence  it  is,  likewise,  that,  when  he  re- 
ceives any  new  beauty  into  his  house,  the 
most  profound  secrecy  is  observed.  But  he 
does  not  always  confine  his  wives  and  female 
slaves,  because  he  holds  them  in  contempt : 
he  guards  their  persons,  as  his  most  valuable 
treasures* 


5S  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

This  extreme  uxoriousness  of  the  men,  is 
what  gives  the  women  their  natural  power 
over  them  ;  and  the  knowledge  of  this  power 
has  caused  the  men  to  establish  laws  and 
customs,  to  prevent  in  some  measure  its  ef- 
fects. 

These  laws  prevent  the  women  from  hav- 
ing any  share  in  government,  debar  them 
from  entering  the  mosques,  from  holding  any 
lands,  or  enjoying  any  fortunes,  independent 
of  their  husbands  or  parents ;  and,  in  short, 
give  their  husbands  an  absolute  authority 
over  them. 

In  Holland,  on  the  contrary:,  where  the 
men  are  of  a  phlegmatic  disposition,  devoted 
to  gain,  enemies  to  luxury,  prudent,  selfish, 
tid  cold  in  their  attachments  to  the  sex,  the 
natural  power  of  the  women  must  conse- 
quently be  small.  On  this  account,  as  there  is 
little  danger  that  the  men  will  treat  them  with 
too  much  kindness,  or  be  seduced  by  their 
allurements,  the  laws  are  calculated  not  to  in- 
crease, but  to  restrain  the  authority  of  hus- 
bands ;  and  the  magistrates  find  it  necessary 
to  support  die  women  in  the  privileges  the 
laws  have  given  them,  by  great  attention  to 
their  complaints. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  severity  of 
the  Mahometan  laws  respecting  women,  and 
the  lenity  of  the  laws  respecting  them  in  Hol- 
land, it  appears  that  there  have  been  numbers 
of  Mahometans  (even  men  on  whom  the  fate 
of  kingdoms  has  depended)  who  have  given 
themselves  up  to  the  entire  direction  of  their 
female  favorites;  though  it  docs  not  appear 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  Sy 

that  Dutch   husbands  give  up  their  interest 
through  the  influence  of  their  wives. 

The  manners  of  Mahometan  women, 
and  the  maimers  of  Dutch  women,  are  no 
less  different  than  the  laws  by  which  they  are 
governed;  and,  in  both,  the  difference  arises 
from  the  same  causes. 

As  a  Mussulman  procures  wives  and  fe- 
male slaves  for  his  pleasure  only,  nothing  is 
expected  in  them  but  youth  and  beauty,  or, 
at  most,  the  arts  of  singing  and  dancing. — 
They  are  too  precious  to  be  fatigued  by  cares. 
As  their  business  is  only  to  make  themselves 
agreeable,  they  attire  themselves  in  the  most 
expensive  dresses,  practice  the  most  becom- 
ing attitudes,  and  throw  their  eyes  with  the 
most  bewitching  languishrrfent ;  are  feeble 
and  indolent  in  their  youth;  and  old  age, 
which  comes  upon  women  early  in  their  cli- 
mate, is  spent  in  jealousy  of  their  more  youth- 
ful rivals. 

But  as  a  Dutch  woman  is  expected  to 
serve,  she  attends  to  business,  and  neglects 
her  person :  she  is  inelegant  and  robust ;  her 
laughs  are  hearty,  and  her  expressions  coarse. 

A  Dutchman  desires  in  his  wife  an  assis- 
tant, a  steward,  a  partner  in  his  cares.  She 
only  expects  to  be  valued  in  proportion  to  her 
industry  and  economy;  as,  therefore,  the 
Mahometan  women  are  examples  of  the  most 
extreme  indolence;  the  Dutch  women  are 
remarkable  for  their  application  to  business. 
Thus  they  become  of  consequence  in  them- 
selves, as  well  as  useful  in  promoting  the  in- 
terest of  their  husbands,  not  only  by  their 


6o  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

domestic  economy,  but  by  their  knowledge 
in  traffic.  The  wife,  indeed,  is  very  often, 
both  the  assistant  and  the  director  "of  her 
husband's  affairs ;  and  many  unmarried  \vo- 
are  very  considerable  merchants. 

But  though  many  of  them,  by  their  indus- 
try and  application  to  business,  gain  a  degree 
of  consequence,  it  is  a  consequence  indepen- 
dent of  their  sex.  It  is  not  die  woman,  but 
the  merchant,  who  is  considered. 

The  women  of  Holland  are  under  very 
little  restraint,  because  the  Dutch  are  unac- 
quainted with  that  jealousy  which  torments  a 
Mussulman;  and  can,  without  any  uneasi- 
ness,  see  their  wives  carrying  on  business, 
and  striking  bargains,  with  the  greatest  stran- 
gers. 

In  contrast  to  the  mysterious  secrecy  with 
which  a  female  is  ushered  into  a  seraglio,  the 
marriages  of  the  Dutch  are  proclaimed  long 
before  they  take  place ;  and  their  courtships 
are  carried  on  even  without  that  reserve  and 
delicacy  observed  in  the  politer  nations  of 
Europe. 

In  speaking  of  Holland,  we  must  be  un- 
derstood to  mean  the  bulk  of  the  people.  A 
few  people  of  rank  are  imitators  of  the 
French  manners.  Among  these,  however?  the 
national  character  is  visible. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  61 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Of  the  African  Women. 

THE  Africans  were  formerly  renowned 
for  their  industry  in  cultivating  the  ground, 
for  their  trade,  navigation,  caravans  and  use- 
ful arts.  At  present  they  are  remarkable  for 
their  idleness,  ignorance,  superstition,  treache- 
ry, and,  above  all,  for  their  lawless  methods 
of  robbing  and  murdering  all  the  other  inha- 
bitants of  the  rrlobe. 

Though  they  still  retain  some  sense  of  their 
infamous  character,  vet  they  do  not  choose  to 
reform.  Their  priests,  therefore,  endeavor  to 
justify  them,  by  the  following  story  :  "  Noah," 
say  they,  "  was  no  sooner  dead,  than  his  three 
sons,  the  first  of  whom  Was  white,  the  second 
tawny,  and  the  third  black,  having  agreed 
upon  dividing  among  them  his  goods  and  pos- 
sessions, spent  the  greatest  part  of  the  day  in 
sorting  them;  so  that  they  were  obliged  to 
adjourn  the  division  till  the  next  morning. — 
Having  supped,  and  srnoaked  a  friendly  pipe 
together,  they  ail  went  to  rest,  each  in  his 
own  tent.  After  a  few  hours  sleep,  the  white 
brother  got  up,  seized  on  the  gold,  silver, 
precious  stones  and  other  things  of  the  great- 
est value,  loaded  the  best  horses  with  them, 
and  rode  away  to  that  country  where  his  white 
posterity  have  been  settled  ever  since.  The 
tawny,  awaking  soon  after,  and  with  the  same 
criminal  intention,  was  surprised,  when  he 
came  to  the  storehouse,  to  find  that  his  bro~ 


•2  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ther  had  been  beforehand  with  him.  Upon 
which,  he  hastily  secured  the  rest  of  the  hor- 
ses and  camels,  and  loading  them  with  the 
best  carpets,  clothes,  and  other  remaining 
goods,  directed  his  rout  to  another  part  of  the 
world,  leaving  behind  him  only  a  few  of  the 
coarsest  of  the  goods,  and  some  provisions  of 
little  value. 

"  When  the  third,  or  black  brother,  came 
next  morning,  in  the  simplicity  of  his  heart, 
to  make  the  proposed  division,  and  could  nei- 
ther find  his  brethren,  nor  any  of  the  valua- 
ble comtnediues,  he  easily  judged  that  they 
hcid  tricked  him,  and  were  by  that  time  fled 
be)  ond  ;my  possibility  of  a  discovery. 

"  In  this  most  afflicted  situation,  he  took 
his  pipe,  and  begun  to  consider  the  most 
effectual  means  of  retrieving  his  loss, 
and  being  revenged  on  his  perfidious  bro- 
thers. 

"  After  revolving  a  variety  of  schemes  in 
his  mind,  he  at  last  fixed  upon  watching  eve- 
ry opportunity  of  making  reprisals  on  them, 
and  laying  hold  of  and  carrying  away  their 
property,  as  often  as  it  should  fall  in  Iris  way, 
in  revenge  for  the  loss  of  that  patrimony  of 
which  they  had  so  unjustly  deprived  him, 

"  Having  come  to  this  resolution,  he  not 
only  continued  in  the  practice  of  it  all  his  life, 
but  on  his  death-bed  laid  the  strongest  injunc- 
tions on  his  descendants  to  do  so,  to  the  end 
of  the  world." 

Some  tribes  of  the  Africans,  however, 
when  they  have  engaged  themselves  in  the 
protection  of  a  stranger,  arc  remarkable  for 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  63 

fidelity.  Many  of  them  are  conspicuous  for 
their  temperance,  hospitality  and  several  other 
virtues. 

Their  women,  upon  the  whole,  are  far  from 
being  indelicate  or  unchaste.  On  the  banks 
of  the  Niger,  they  are  tolerably  industrious, 
have  a  considerable  share  of  vivacity,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  female  reserve,  which  would 
do  no  discredit  to  a  politer  country.  They  are 
modest,  affable,  and  faithful;  an  "air  of  inno- 
cence appears  in  their  looks,  and  in  their  lan- 
gunge,  which  gives  beauty  to  their  whole  de- 
portment. 

When,  from  the  Niger,  we  approach  to- 
ward the  east,  the  African  women  degenerate 
in  stature,  complexion,  sensibility  and  chas- 
tity. Even  their  language,  like  their  features, 
and  the  soil  they  inhabit,  is  harsh  and  disa- 
greeable. Their  pleasures  resemble  more  the 
transports  of  fury,  than  the  gentle  emotions 
communicated  by  agreeable  sensations. 

Beyond  the  river  Volta,  in  the  country  of 
Benin,  the  women,  though  far  from  being  fa- 
nious  for  any  of  the  virtues,  would  not  be 
disagreeable  in  their  looks,  were  it  not  for  the 
abominable  custom  of  marking  their  faces 
with  scars,  for  the  same  purposes  as  our  Eu- 
ropean ladies  lay  on  paint. 

Though  in  a  few  respects  better  than  sava. 
ges,  there  is  a  particular  opinion  all  over  this 
country,  which  tends  to  humanize  the  mind. 
This  is  a  firm  persuasion,  that,  to  whatever 
place  they  remove  themselves,  or  are  by  any 
idem  removed,  they  shall  after  death  re- 


64  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

turn  to  their  own  country,  which  they  consi- 
der as  the  most  delightful  in  the  universe. 

This  fond  delusive  hope  not  only  softens 
the  slavery  to  which  they  are  often  condemn- 
ed in  other  countries,  but  also  induces  them 
to  treat  such  strangers  as  come  among  them 
with  much  civility.  They  think  they  are  come 
there  to  enjoy  paradise,  and  to  receive  the 
reward  of  virtuous  actions  done  in  other 
countries. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Of  the  effects  of  Chivalry  on  the  Character 
and  the  Manners  of  JFomen, 

HISTORY  does  not  afford  so  singular  a 
revolution  in  policy  and  manners,  as  that 
which  followed  the  subversion  of  the  Roman 
empire. 

It  is  to  the  barbarians,  who  spread  confla- 
gration and  ruin,  who  trampled  on  the  monu- 
ments of  art,  and  spurned  the  appendages  of 
elegance  and  pleasure,  that  we  owe  the  be- 
witching spirit  of  gallantry  which  in  these 
ages  of  refinement,  reigns  in  the  courts  of 
Europe.  That  system,  which  has  made  it  a 
principle  of  honor  among  us  to  consider  the 
women  as  sovereigns;  which  has  partly  form- 
ed our  customs,  our  manners,  and  our  policy; 
which  has  exalted  the  human  character,  by- 
softening  the  empire  of  force ;  which  min- 
gles politeness  with  the  use  of  the  sword; 
which  delights  in  protecting  the  weak,  and  in 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  *5 

conferring  that  importance  which  nature  or 
fortune  have  denied — that  system  was  brought 
hither  from  the  frozen  shores  of  the  Baltic, 
and  from  the  savage  forests  of  the  North. 

The  northern  nations,  in  general,  paid  a 
great  respect  to  women.  Continually  employ- 
ed in  hunting  or  in  war,  they  condescended 
only  to  soften  their  ferocity  in  the  presence  of 
the  fair.  Their  forests  were  the  nurseries  of 
chivalry :  beauty  was  there  the  reward  of  va- 
lour. 

A  warrior,  to  render  himself  worthy  of  his 
mistress,  went  in  search  of  glory  and  of  dan- 
ger. Jealousy  produced  challenges.  Single 
combats,  instituted  by  love,  often  stained  with 
blood  the  woods  and  the  borders  of  the  lakes ; 
and  the  sword  ascertained  the  rights  of  Ve- 
nus as  well  as  of  Mars. 

Let  us  not  be  surprised  at  these  manners. 
Among  men  who  have  made  few  advances 
in  civilization,  but  who  have  already  united  in 
large  bodies,  women  have  naturally  the  great- 
est sway.  Society  is  then  sufficiently  culti- 
vated to  have  introduced  the  ideas  of  prefer- 
ence and  of  choice,  in  the  connection  between 
the  sexes,  which  seem  to  be  little  regarded,  if 
at  all  known,  among  savages.  It  is  however 
too  rude  to  partake  of  that  state  of  effeminacy, 
in  which  the  senses  are  enfeebled,  and  the  af- 
fections worn  out  by  habit. 

People  but  little  removed  from  barbarism, 
in  the  perfection  of  their  animal  powers,  and 
ignorant  of  all  those  artificial  pleasures  created 
by  the  wants  of  polished  life,  feel  more  exqui- 
sitely the  pleasures  of  nature,  and  the  genuine 
G 


66  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

emotions  of  man.  They  mingle  even  with 
their  love  a  kind  of  adoration  to  the  female 
sex. 

Several  of  the  northern  nations  imagined 
that  women  could  look  into  futurity,  and  that 
they  had  about  them  an  inconceivable  some- 
thing approaching  to  divinity.  Perhaps  that 
idea  was  only  the  effect  of  the  sagacity  com- 
mon  to  the  sex,  and  the  advantage  which  their 
natural  address  gave  them  over  rough  and 
simple  warriors.  Perhaps,  also,  those,  barba- 
rians, surprized  at  the  influence  which  beauty 
Las  over  force,  were  led  to  ascribe  to  superna- 
tural attraction  a  charm  which  they  could  not 
comprehend. 

^  A  belief,  however,  that  the  Deity  commu- 
nicates himself  more  readily  to  women,  has  at 
one  time  or  another  prevailed  in  every  quar- 
ter of  the  earth :  not  only  the  Germans  and 
the  Britons,  but  all  the  people  of  Scandinavia, 
were  possessed  of  it.  Among  the  Greeks, 
^vomen  delivered  the  oracles.  The  respect 
which  the  Romans  paid  to  the  Sibyls  is  well 
known.  The  Jews  had  their  prophetesses. 
The  predictions  of  the  Egyptian  women  ob- 
tained much  credit  at  Rome,  even  under  the 
emperors.  And  in  the  most  barbarous  na- 
tions, all  things  that  have  the  appearance  of 
being  supernatural,  the  mysteries  of  religion, 
the  secrets  of  physic,  and  the  rights  of  magic, 
are  in  the  possession  of  the  women. 

The  barbarians  who  over-ran  Europe  cari- 
ed  their  opinions  along  with  their  arms.  A 
revolution  in  the  manner  of  living  must  there- 
fore soon  have  taken  place.     The  climates  of 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  67 

the  north  required  little  reserve  between  the 
sexes  ;  and,  during  the  invasions  from  that 
quarter,  which  continued  for  three  or  four 
hundred  years,  it  was  common  to  see  women 
mixed  with  warriors. 

By  associating  with  a  corrupted  people, 
who  had  all  the '  vices  of  former  prosperity, 
along  with  those  of  present  adversity,  the  con- 
querors were  not  likely  to  imbibe  more  severe 
ideas.  Hence  we  see  those  sons  of  the  north 
in  softer  climates,  uniting  the  vices  of  re- 
finement to  the  stateliness  of  the  warrior,  and 
the  pride  of  the  barbarian. 

They  embraced  Christianity  ;  but  it  rather 
modified  than  changed  their  character  :  it 
mingled  itself  with  their  customs,  without  al- 
tering the  genius  of  the  people. 

Thus,  by  degrees,  were  laid  the  foundations 
of  new  manners,  which,  in  modern  Europe, 
have  brought  the  two  sexes  more  on  a  level 
by  assigning  to  the  women  a  kind  of  sovereign- 
ty, and  associating  love  with  valour. 

The  true  sera  of  chivalry  was  the  fourteenth 
century.  That  civil  and  military  institution 
took  its  rise  from  a  train  of  circumstances, 
and  the  native  bent  of  the  new  inhabitants. 

Shattered  by  the  fall  of  the  empire,  Europe 
had  not  yet  arrived  at  any  degree  of  consis- 
tency. After  five  hundred  years,  nothing  was 
iixed.  From  the  mixture  of  Christianity  with 
the  ancient  customs  of  the  barbarians,  sprung 
a  continual  discord  in  manners.  From  the 
mixture  of  the  rights  of  the  priesthood  with 
those  of  the  empire,  sprung  a  discord  in  laws 
and  politics.     From  the  mixture  of  the  rights 


*8  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

©f  sovereigns  with  those  of  the  nobility,  sprung 
a  discord  in  government.  Anarchy  and  con- 
fusion were  the  result  of  so  many  contrasts. 
.  Christianity  which  had  now  lost  much  of  its 
original  influence,  like  a  feeble  curb,  was  still 
sufficient  to  restrain  the  weak  passions,  but 
was  no  longer  able  to  bridle  the  strong.  It 
produced  remorse,  but  could  not  prevent  guilt. 

The  people  of  those  times  made  pilgrim- 
ages, and  they  pillaged  :  they  massacred,  and 
they  afterwards  did  penance.  Robbery  and 
licentiousness  were  blended  with  superstition. 

It  was  in  this  aera  that  the  nobility,  idle 
and  warlike,  from  a  sentiment  of  natural  equi- 
ty, and  that  uneasiness  which  follows  the  per- 
petration of  violence,from  the  double  motive 
of  religion  and  heroism,  associated  themselves 
together  to  effect,  in  a  body,  what  government 
had  neglected,  or  but  poorly  executed. 

Their  objeet  was  to  combat  the  Moors  in 
Spain,  the  Saracens  m  Asia,  the  tyrants  of  the 
castles  and  strong  holds  in  Germany  and  in 
France  ;  to  assure  the  safety  of  travellers,  as 
Hercules  and  Theseus  did  of  old  ;  and,  above 
all  things,  to  defend  the  honour  and  protect 
the  rights  of  the  feeble  sex,  against  the  too  fre- 
quent villainy  and  oppression  of  the  strong. 

A  noble  spirit  of  gallantry  soon  mingled  it- 
self with  that  institution.  Every  knight,  in 
devoting  himself  to  danger,  listed  himself  un- 
der some  lady  as  his  sovereign  :  it  was  for 
her  that  he  attacked,  for  her  that  he  defended, 
for  her  that  he  mounted  the  walls  of  cities  and 
of  castles,  and  for  her  honour  that  he  shed  his 
blood. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  69 

Europe  was  only  one  large  field  of  battle, 
where  warriors  clad  in  armour,  and  adorned 
with  ribbands  and  with  the  cyphers  of  their 
mistresses,  engaged  in  close  fight  to  merit  the 
favour  of  beauty. 

Fidelity  was  then  associated  with  courage, 
and  love  was  inseparably  connected  with  ho- 
nour. 

The  women,  proud  of  their  sway,  and  of 
receiving  it  from  the  hands  of  virtue,  became 
worthy  of  the  great  actions  of  their  lovers,  and 
reciprocated  passions  as  noble  as  those  they 
inspired.  An  ungenerous  choice  debased 
them.  The  tender  sentiment  was  never  felt, 
but  when  united  with  glory  :  and  the  manners 
breathed  an  inexpressible  something  of  pride, 
heroism,  and  tenderness,  which  was  altoge- 
ther astonishing. 

Beauty,  perhaps,  never  exercised  so  sweet 
or  so  powerful  an  empire  over  the  heart.  Hence 
those  constant  passions  which  our  levity  can- 
not comprehend,  and  which  our  manners,  our 
little  weaknesses,  our  perpetual  thirst  of  hopes 
and  desires,  our  listless  anxiety  that  torments 
us,  and  which  tires  itself  in  pursuit  of  emotion 
without  pleasure,  and  of  impulse  without  aim, 
have  often  turned  into  ridicule  on  our  theatres, 
in  our  conversations,  and  in  our  lives, 
j  But  it  is.  nevertheless  true,  that  those  pas- 
sions, fostered  by  years,  and  roused  by  obsta- 
cles 1  where  respect  kept  hope  at  a  distance ; 
where  love,  fed  only  by  sacrifices,  sacrificed 
itself  unceasingly  to.  honour— reinvigorateel 
the  characters  and  the  souls  of  the  two  sexes ; 
gave  more  energy  to  the  one,  and  more  ele- 

G    2 


70  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

vation  to  the  other ;  changed  men  into  heroes  ; 
and  inspired  the  women  with  a  pride  which 
was  by  no  means  hurtful  to  virtue. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  opinion  of  two  Modern  Authors  concern- 
ing Chivalry, 

■  THE  sentiments  of  two  late  writers  of 
high  reputation  corroborate  this  account  of 
the  origin  and  progress  of  chivalry. 

"  The  system  of  chivalry,  when  complete- 
]y  formed,"  says  Professor  Ferguson,  "  pro- 
ceeded on  a  marvellous  respect  and  venera- 
tion to  the  fair  sex,  on  forms  of  combat  esta- 
blished, and  on  a  supposed  junction  of  the 
heroic  and  sanctified  character.  The  formali- 
ties of  the  duel,  and  a  kind  of  judicial  chal- 
lenge, were  known  among  the  ancient  Celtic 
nations  of  Europe.  The  Germans,  even  in 
their  native  forests,  paid  a  kind  of  devotion 
to  the  female  sex.  The  Christian  religion  en- 
joined meekness  and  compassion  to  barbar- 
ous ages. 

"  These  different  principles,  combined  to- 
gether, may  have  served  as  the  foundation  of 
a  system,  in  which  courage  was  directed  by 
religion  and  love,  and  the  warlike  and  gentle 
were  united  together.  When  the  characters 
of  the  hero  and  the"  saint  were  mixed,  the 
mild  spirit  of  Christianity,  though  often  turn- 
ed into  venom  by  the  bigotry  of  opposite 
parties ;  though  it  could  not  always  subdue 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  7* 

the  ferocity  of  the  warrior,  nor  suppress  the 
admiration  of  courage  and  force ;  may  have 
confirmed  the  apprehensions  of  men,  in  what 
was  to  be  held  meritorious  and  splendid,  iri 
the  conduct  of  their  quarrels. 

"  The  feudal  establishments,  by  the  high 
rank  to  which  they  elevated  certain  families, 
no  doubt  greatly  favoured  this  romantic  sys- 
tem. Not  only  the  lustre  of  a  noble  descent, 
but  the  stately  castle  beset  with  battlements 
and  towers,  served  to  inflame  the  imagination, 
and  to  create  a  veneration  for  the  daughter 
and  the  sister  of  gallant  chiefs,  whose  point  of 
honour  it  was  to  be  inaccessible  and  chaste  ; 
and  who  could  perceive  no  merit  but  that  of 
the  high  [minded  and  the  brave,  nor  be  ap- 
proached in  any  other  accents  than  those  of 
gentleness  and  respect." 

Professor  Millar,  in  his  observations  con- 
cerning the  distinction  of  ranks  in  society, 
gives  the  following  sensible  and  pleasing  ac- 
count of  chivalry :  "  From  the  prevailing 
spirit  of  the  times,  the  art  of  war  bccai&j  the 
study  of  every  one  who  was  desirous  of  main- 
taining the  character  of  a  gentleman.  The 
youth  were  early  initiated  in  the  profession  of 
arms,  and  served  a  sort  of  apprenticeship 
under  persons  of  rank  and  experience. 

"  The  young  squire  became  in  reality  the 
servant  of  that  leader  to  whom  he  had  attach- 
ed himself,  and  whose  virtues  were  set  be- 
fore him  as  a  mode  which  he  proposed  to  im- 
itate, 

"  He  was  taught  to  perform,  with  ease  and 
dexterity,  those  exercises  which  were  either 


72  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ornamental  or  useful ;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
he  endeavoured  to  acquire  those  talents  and 
accomplishments  which  were  thought  suita- 
ble to  his  profession. 

"  He  was  taught  to  look  upon  it  as  his  du- 
ty to  check  the  insolent,  to  restrain  the  oppres- 
sor, to  protect  the  weak  and  defenceless ;  to 
behave  with  frankness  and  humanity  even  to 
an  enemy,  with  modesty  and  politeness  to  all, 

"  According  to  the  proficiency  which  he 
had  made,  he  was  proportionably  advanced  in 
rank  and  character.  He  was  honoured  with 
new  titles  and  marks  of  distinction,  till  at 
length  he  arrived  at  the  dignity  of  knighthood. 
This  dignity  even  the  greatest  potentates  v/ere 
ambitious  of  acquiring,  as  it  was  supposed  to 
distinguish  a  person  who  had  obtained  the 
most  complete  military  education,  and  who 
had  attained  to  a  high  degree  of  eminence  in 
those  particular  qualities  which  were  then 
universally  admired  and  respected. 

"  The  situation  of  mankind  in  those  peri- 
ods had  also  a  manifest  tendency  to  heighten 
and  improve  the  passion  between  the  sexes. 

"  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  those  opu- 
lent chiefs,  who  were  so  often  at  variance,  and 
who  maintained  a  constant  opposition  to  each 
other,  would  allow  any  sort  of  familiarity  to 
take  place  between  the  members  of  their  re- 
spective families.  Retired  in  their  own  cas- 
tles, and  surrounded  by  their  numerous  vas- 
sals, they  looked  upon  their  neighbours  either 
as  inferior  to  them  in  rank,  or  as  enemies 
against  whom  they  were  obliged  to  be  con- 
stantly upon  their  guard.     They  behaved  to 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  73 

each  other  with  that  ceremonious  civility 
which  the  laws  of  chivalry  required ;  but,  at 
the  same  time,  with  that  reserve  and  caution 
which  a  regard  to  their  own  safety  made  it 
necessary  for  them  to  observe. 

"  The  young  knight,  as  he  marched  to  the 
tournament,  saw  at  a  distance  the  daughter  of 
the  chieftain  by  whom  the  show  was  exhibit- 
ed ;  and  it  was  even  with  difficulty  that  he 
could  obtain  access  to  her,  in  order  to  declare 
the  sentiments  with  which  she  had  inspired 
him.  He  was  entertained  by  her  relations 
with  that  cold  respect  which  demonstrated 
their  unwillingness  to  contract  an  alliance 
with  him.  The  lady  herself  was  taught  to  as- 
sume the  pride  of  her  family,  and  to  think 
that  no  person  was  worthy  of  her  affection, 
who  did  not  possess  the  most  exalted  rank 
and  character.  To  have  given  way  to  a  sud- 
den inclination,  would  have  disgraced  her  for 
ever  in  the  opinion  of  all  her  kindred;  and  it 
was  only  by  a  long  course  of  attention,  and 
of  the  most  respectful  service,  that  the  lover 
could  hope  for  any  favour  from  his  mistress, 

"  The  barbarous  state  of  the  country  at 
that  time,  and  the  injury  to  which  the  inha- 
bitants, especially  those  of  the  weaker  sex, 
were  frequently  exposed,  gave  ample  scope 
for  the  display  of  military  talents;  and  the 
knight  who  had  nothing  to  do  at  home  was 
encouraged  to  wander  from  place  to  place, 
and  from  one  court  to  another,  in  quest  of  acU 
ventures.  Thus  he  endeavoured  to  advance 
his  reputation  in  arms,  and  to  recommend 
himself  to  the  fair  of  whom  he  was  enamour- 


74  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  Of 

cd,  by  fighting  with  every  person  who  was 
so  inconsiderate  as  to  dispute  her  unrivalled 
beauty,  virtue  or  personal  accomplishments. 
■  "  As  there  were  many  persons  in  the  same 
situation,  so  they  were  naturally  inspired  with 
similar  sentiments.  Rivals  to  one  another  in. 
military  glory,  they  were  often  competitors, 
as^  Milton  expresseth  it,  to  xvin.  her  grace 
whom  all  commend;  and  the  same  emulation 
which  disposed  them  to  aim  at  pre-eminence 
in  one  respect,  excited  them  with  no  less  ea- 
gerness to  dispute  the  preference  in  the 
other.  Their  dispositions  and  manner  of 
thinking  became  fashionable,  and  were  gra- 
dually dhTused  by  the  force  of  education  and 
example. 

"  To  be  in  love  was  looked  upon  as  one  of 
the  necessary  qualifications  of  a  knight;  and 
he  was  no  less  ambitious  of  shewing  his  con- 
stancy and  fidelity  to  his  mistress,  than  of  dis- 
playing  his  military  virtues.  He  assumed  the 
title  of  her  slave  and  servant.  By  this  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  every  conflict  in  which 
he  was  engaged;  and  his  success  was  sup- 
posed to  redound  to  her  honour,  no  less  than 
to  his  own.  If  she  had  bestowed  upon  him  a 
present  to  be  worn  in  the  field  of  battle,  in 
token  of  her  regard,  it  was  considered  as  a 
sure  pledge  of  victory,  and  as  laying  upon 
him  the  strongest  obligation  to  act  in  such 
manner  as  would  render  him  worthy  of  the 
favour  which  he  had  received. 

"  The  sincere  and  faithful  passion,  the  dis- 
tant sentimental  attachment  which  commonly 
occupied  the  heart  of  every  warrior,  and  which 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  7* 

he  possessed  upon  all  occasions,  was  natural- 
ly productive  of  the  utmost  purity  of  manners, 
and  of  great  respect  and  veneration  for  the  fe- 
male sex. 

M  persons  who  made  a  point  of  defending 
the  reputation  and  dignity  of  that  particular 
lady  to  whom  they  were  devoted,  became 
thereby  extremely  cautious  and  delicate,  lest, 
by  any  insinuation  whatever,  they  should  hurt 
the  character  of  another,  and  be  exposed  to 
the  just  censure  and  resetment  of  those  by 
whom  she  was  protected. 

"  A  woman  who  deviated  so  far  from  the 
established  maxims  of  the  age,  as  to  violate 
the  laws  of  chastity,  was  indeed  deserted  by 
every  body,  and  was  therefore  universally  con- 
demned and  insulted.  But  those  who  adher- 
ed to  the  strict  rules  of  virtue,  and  maintain- 
ed an  unblemished  reputation,  were  treated 
like  bei:  gs  of  a  superior  order." 

Such  was  the  spirit  of  chivalry.  It  gave 
birth  to  an  incredible  number  of  performances 
in  honour  and  in  praise  of  women.  The 
verses  of  the  bards,  the  Italian  sonnet,  the 
plaintive  romance,  the  poems  of  chivalry,  the 
Spanish  and  French  romances,  were  so  many 
monuments  of  that  kind,  composed  in  the 
time  of  a  noble  barbarism,  and  of  a  heroism, 
in  which  the  great  and  ridiculous  were  often 
blended. 

These  compositions,  all  once  so  much 
celebrated,  are  only  calculated  to  gratify  a  vain 
curiosity.  They  may  be  compared  to  the 
ruins  of  a  Gothic  palace.  They  have  in  ge- 
neral, the  same  foundation  ;  and  the  praises 


75  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

in  the  one  are'  as  uniform  as  the  apartment* 
in  the  other.  All  the  women  are  prodigies 
of  beauty,  and  miracles  of  virtue. 

In  tlw  courts,  in  the  fields  of  battle  or  of 
tournament,  every  thing  breathed  of  women. 
The  same  taste  prevailed  in  letters.  One  did 
not  write,  one  did  not  think,  but  for  them. 
The  same  man  was  often  both  poet  and  war- 
rior. He  sung  with  his  lyre,  and  encounter- 
ed with  his  lance,  by  turns  for  the  beauty  that 
be  adored. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Vf  the  great  Enterprises  of  Women  in  the 
Times  of  Chivalrij. 

THE  times  and  the  manners  of  chivalry, 
by  bringing  great  enterprises,  bold  adventures, 
and  I  know  not  what  of  extravagant  heroism 
into  fashion,  inspired  the  women  with  the 
same  taste. 

The  two  sexes  imitate  each  other.  Their 
manners  and  their  minds  are  refined  or  cor- 
rupted, invigorated  or  dissolved  together. 

The  women,  in  consequence  of  the  pre- 
vailing passion,  were  now  seen  in  the  middle 
of  camps  and  of  armies.  They  quitted  the 
soft  and  tender  inclinations,  and  the  delicate 
officers  of  their  own  sex,  for  the  courage,  and 
toilsome  occupations  of  ours. 

During  the  crusades,  animated  by  the  dou- 
ble enthusiasm  of  religion  and  of  valour,  they 
often  performed  the  most  romantic  exploits. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  77 

They  obtained  indigencies  on  the  field  of 
battle,  and  died  with  arms  in  their  hands,  by 
the  side  of  their  lovers,  or  of  their  husbands. 

In  Europe,  the  women  attacked  and  de- 
fended fortifications.  Princesses  commanded 
their  armies,  and  obtained  victories. 

Such  was  the  celebrated  Joan  de  Mountfort, 
disputing  for  her  duchy  of  Bretagne,  and  en- 
gaging the  enemy  herself. 

Such  was  the  still  more  celebrated  Marga- 
ret of  Anjou,  queen  of  England,  and  wife  of 
Henry  VI.  She  wras  active  and  intrepid,  a 
general  and  a  soldier.  Her  genius  for  a  long 
time  supported  her  feeble  husband,  taught 
him  to  conquer,  replaced  him  upon  the  throne, 
twice  relieved  him  from  prison,  and,  though 
oppressed  by  fortune  and  by  rebels,  she  did 
not  yield,  till  she  had  decided  in  person  twelve 
battles. 

The  warlike  spirit  among  the  women,  con- 
sistent with  ages  of  barbarism,  when  every 
thing  is  impetuous  because  nothing  is  fixed, 
and  when  all  excess  is  the  excess  of  force, 
continued  in  Europe  upwards  of  four  hun- 
dred years,  shewing  itself  from  time  to  time, 
and  always  in  the  middle  of  convulsions,  or  on 
the  eve  of  great  revolutions. 

But  there  were  zeras  and  countries,  in 
which  that  spirit  appeared  with  particular  lus- 
tre. Such  were  the  displays  it  made  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  in  Hungary, 
and  in  the  Islands  of  the  Archipelago  and  the 
Mediterranean,  when  they  were  invaded  by 
the  Turks. 

Every  thing  conspired  to  animate  the  wo- 
H 


78  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

men  of  those  countries  with  an  exalted  cou- 
rage :  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  foregoing 
ages ;  the  terror  which  the  name  of  the  Turks 
inspired  ;  the  still  more  dreadful  apprehensi- 
ons of  an  unknown  enemy  ;  the  difference  of 
dress,  which  has  a  stronger  effect  than  is  com- 
monly supposed  on  the  imagination  of  a  peo- 
ple ;  the  difference  of  religion,  which  pro- 
duced a  kind  of  sacred  horror ;  the  striking 
difference  of  manners;  and,  above  all,  the 
confinement  of  the  female  sex,  which,  present- 
ed to  the  women  of  Europe  nothing  but  the 
frightful  ideas  of  servitude  and  a  master  ;  the 
groans  of  honor,  the  tears  of  beauty  in  the  em- 
brace of  barbarism,  and  the  double  tyranny 
of  love,  and  pride  ! 

The  contemplation  of  these  objects,  accor- 
dingly roused  in  the  hearts  of  the  women  a  re- 
solute courage  to  defend  themselves  ;  nay, 
sometimes  even  a  courage  of  enthusiasm, 
which  hurried  itself  against  the  enemy. — That 
courage,  too,  was  augmented,  by  the  promises 
of  a  religion,  which  offered  eternal  happiness 
in  exchange  for  the  sufferings  of  a  moment. 

It  is  not  therefore  surprisong,  that,  when 
three  beautiful  women  of  the  isle  of  Cyprus 
were  led  prisoners  to  Selim,  tobe  secluded  in 
the  seraglio,  one  of  them,  preferring  death  to 
such  a  condition,  conceived  the  project  of  set- 
ting fire  to  the  magazine  ;  and  after  having 
communicated  her  design  to  the  rest,  put  it 
in  execution. 

The  year  following  the  city  of  Cyprus  be- 
ing besieged  by  the  Turks,  the  women  ran  in 
•crowds,  mingled  themselves  with  the  soldiers, 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  79 

and,  fighting  gallantly  in  the  breach,  were  the 
means  of  saving  their  country. 

Under  Mahomet  II.  a  girl  of  the  isle  of 
Lemnos,  armed  with  the  sword  and  shield  of 
her  father,  who  had  fallen  in  battle,  opposed 
the  Turks,  when  they  had  forced  a  gate,  and 
chased  them  to  the  shore. 

In  Hungary  the  women  distinguished  them- 
selves miraculously  in  a  number  of  sieges  and 
battles  against  the  Turks.  A  woman  of 
Transylvania,  in  different  engagements,  is  said 
to  have  killed  six  Janissaries  with  her  own 
hand. 

In  the  two  celebrated  sieges  of  Rhodes  and 
Malta,  the  women,  seconding  the  zeal  of  the 
knights,  discovered  upon  all  occasions  the 
greatest  intrepidity  ;  not  only  that  impetuous 
and  temporary  impulse  which  despises  death, 
but  that  cool  and  deliberate  fortitude  which 
can  support  the  continued  hardships,  the  toils, 
and  the  miseries  of  war. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Other  curious  Particulars  concerning  Females 
in  those  Ages. 

WHILE  Charlemagne  swayed  the  sceptre 
in  France,  confession  was  considered  as  so  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  salvation,  that  in  several 
cases,  and  particularly  at  the  point  of  death, 
where  no  priest  or  man  could  be  had,  it  was 
by  the  church  allowed  to  be  made  to  a  wo- 
man. 


8o  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

In  the  sixteenth  century  it  was  no  uncom- 
mon thing  for  church-livings,  the  revenues  of 
abbeys,  and  even  of  bishoprics,  to  be  given 
away  with  the  young  ladies  as  a  portion. 

Thus  women  exercised  a  kind  of  sacerdotal 
function  :  and,  though  they  did  not  actually 
officiate  at  the  altar,  they  enjoyed  (what  many 
of  the  priests  themselves  would  have  been 
glad  of)  the  emolument  of  the  altar,  without 
the  drudgery  of  its  service. 

In  posterior  ages,  women  have  crept  still 
farther  into  the  offices  of  the  church.  The 
Christians  of  Circassia  allow  their  nuns  to  ad- 
minister the  sacrament  of  baptism. 

When  any  material  difference  happened  be- 
tween man  and  man,  or  when  one  accused  a- 
nother  of  a  crime,  the  decision,  according  to 
an  ancient  custom  established  by  law,  was  to 
be  by  a  single  combat  or  the  ordeal  trial. 
From  both  which  ridiculous  ways  of  appeal- 
ing to  heaven  women  were  exempted. 

When  a  man  had  said  any  thing  that  re- 
flected dishonor  on  a  woman,  or  accused 
her  of  a  crime,  she  was  not  obliged  to  fight 
him  to  prove  her  innocence :  the  combat 
would  have  been  unequal.  But  she  might 
choose  a  champion  to  fight  in  her  cause,  or 
expose  himself  to  the  horrid  trial,  in  order  to 
clear  her  reputation.  Such  champions  were 
generally  selected  from  her  lovers  or  friends, 
But  if  she  fixed  upon  any  other,  so  high  was 
the  spirit  of  martial  glory,  and  so  eager  the 
thirst  of  defending  the  weak  and  helpless  sex, 
that  we  meet  with  no  instance  of  a  champion 
ever  having  refused  to  fight  for,  or  undergo 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  81 

whatever  custom  required  in  defence  of  the 
lady  who  had  honored  him  with  the  appoint- 
ment. 

To  the  motives  already  mentioned,  we  may 
add  another.  He  who  had  refused,  must  in- 
evitably have  been  branded  with  the  name  of 
coward  :  and,  so  despicable  was  the  condition 
a  coward,  in  those  times  of  general  heroism, 
that  death  itself  appeared  the  more  preferable 
choice.  Nay,  such  was  the  rage  of  lighting 
for  women,  that  it  became  customary  for  those 
who  could  not  be  honoured  with  the  decision 
of  their  real  quarrels,  to  create  fictitious  ones 
concerning  them,  in  order  to  create  also  a  ne- 
cessity of  fighting. 

Nor  was  fighting  for  the  ladies  confined  to 
single  combatants.  Crowds  of  gallants  en- 
tered the  list  against  each  other.  Even  Kings 
called  out  their  subjects,  to  shew  their  love  to 
their  mistresses,  by  cutting  the  throats  of  their 
neighbours,  who  had  not  in  the  least  offended. 

In  the  fourteenth  century,  when  the  count- 
ess of  Dlois  and  the  widow  of  ?>iountfort  were 
at  war  against  each  other,  a  conference  was 
agreed  to,  on  pretence  of  settling  a  peace,  but 
in  reality  to  appoint  a  combat.  Instead  of 
negotiating,  they  soon  challenged  each  other  ; 
and  Beaumano.r,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Britons,  publicly  declared  that  they  fought 
from  no  other  motive,  than  to  see,  by  the  vic- 
tory, who  had  the  fairest  mistress. 

In  the  fifteenth  century,  we  hud  an  anec- 
dote of  this  kind  still  more  extraordinary*. 
John,  dtfke  de  Bourbonnois,  published  a  de- 
claration, that  he  would  vro  over  to  England, 

H   Mi 


82  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

with  sixteen  knights,  and  there  fight  it  out,  in 
order  to  avoid  idleness,  and  merit  the  good 
graces  of  his  mistress. 

James  IV.  of  Scotland  having,  in  all  tour- 
naments, professed  himself  knight  to  queen 
Anne  of  France,  she  summoned  him  to  prove 
himself  her  true  and  valorous  champion,  by- 
taking  the  field  in  her  defence,  against  bis 
brother-in-law,  Henry  VIII.  of  England. 
He  obeyed  the  romantic  mandate  ;  and  the 
two  nations  bled  to  feed  the  vanity  of  a  wo- 
man. 

Warriors,  when  ready  to  engage,  invoked 
the  aid  of  their  mistresses,  as  poets  do  that  of  the 
Muses.  If  they  fought  valiantly,  it  reflected 
honor  on  the  Duleioeas  they  adored  ;  but  if 
they  turned  their  backs  on  their  enemies,  the 
poor  ladies  were  dishonored  for  ever. 

Love,  was,  at  that  time,  the  most  prevail- 
ing motive  to  fighting.  The  famous  Gaston 
do  Foix,  who  commanded  the  French  troops 
at  the  battle  of  Ravenna,  took  advantage  of  this 
foible  of  his  army.  He  rode  from  rank  to 
rank,  calling  his  officers  by  name,  and  even 
some  of  his  private  men;  recommending  to 
them  their  country,  their  honor,  and,  above 
all,  to  shew  what  they  could  do  for  the  love  of 
their  j&aistresses. 

The  women  of  those  ages,  the  reader  may 
imagine,  were  certainly  more  completely  hap- 
py than  in  any  other  period  of  the  world. — 
This,  however,  was  not  in  reality  the  case. 

Custom,  which  governs  all  things  with  the 
most  absolute  sway,  had,  thro'  a  long  succes* 
sion  of  years,  given  her  sanction  to  such  com- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  S3 

bats  as  were  undertaken, either  to  defend  the  111- 
nocence,or  display  the  Ix  auty  of  women.  Cus- 
tom, therefore,  either  obliged  a  man  to  fight 
for  a  woman  who  desired  him,  or  marked 
the  refusal  with  infamy  and  disgrace.  But 
custom  did  not  oblige  him,  in  every  other 
part  of  his  conduct,  to  behave  to  this  woman, 
or  to  the  sex  in  general,  with  that  respect  and 
politeness  which  have  happily  distinguished 
the  character  of  more  modern  times. 

The  same  man  who  would  have  encoun- 
tered giants,  or  gigantic  difficulties,  "  when 
a  lady  was  in  the  case,"  had  but  little  idea  of 
adding  to  her  happiness,  by  supplying  her 
with  the  comforts  and  elegancies  of  life. — 
And,  had  she  asked  him  to  stoop,  and  ease 
her  of  a  part  of  that  domestic  slavery  which, 
almost  in  every  country,  falls  to  the  lot  of 
women,  he  would  have  thought  himself  quite 
affronted. 

But  besides,  men  had  nothing  else,  in 
those  ages,  than  that  kind  of  romantic  gal- 
lantry to  recommend  them.  Ignorant  of  let- 
ters, arts  and  sciences,  and  every  thing  that 
refines  human  nature,  they  were,  in  every- 
thing where  gallantry  was  not  concerned, 
rough  and  unpolished  in  their  manners  and 
behaviour.  Their  time  was  spent  in  drink- 
ing, war,  gallantry  and  idleness.  In  their 
hours  of  relaxation,  they  were  but  little  in 
company  with  their  women  ;  and  when  they 
were,  the  indelicacies  of  the  carousal,  or  the 
cruelties  of  the  field,  were  almost  the  only 
subjects  they  had  to  talk  of. 


84  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

From  the  subversion  of  the  Roman  empire, 
to  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century,  women 
spent  most  of  their  time  alone.  They  were 
almost  entire  strangers  to  the  joys  of  social 
life.  They  seldom  went  abroad,"  but  to  be 
spectators  of  such  public  diversions  and 
amusements  as  the  fashion  of  the  times  coun- 
tenanced. Francis  I.  was  the  first  monarch 
who  introduced  them  on  public  days  to  cou  rt. 

Before  his  time,  nothing  was  to  be  seen  at 
any  of  the  courts  of  Europe,  but  long-beard- 
ed politicians,  plotting  the  destruction  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  mankind ;  and  warri- 
ors clad  in  complete  armour,  ready  to  put 
their  plots  in  execution. 

In  the  eighth  century,  so  slavish  was  the 
condition  of  women  on  the  one  hand,  and  so 
much  was  beauty  coveted  on  the  other,  that, 
for  about  two  hundred  years,  the  kings  of 
Austria  were  obliged  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the 
Moors,  of  one  hundred  beautiful  virgins  per 
annum. 

In  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries, 
elegance  had  scarcely  any  existence,  and  even 
cleanliness  was  hardly  considered  as  laudable. 
The  use  of  linen  was  not  known  ;  and  the 
most  delicate  of  the  fair  sex  wore  woolen 
shifts. 

In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  the  peers  of 
the  realm  carried  their  wives  behind  them  on 
horseback,  when  they  went  to  London  ;  and, 
in  the  same  manner,  took  triem  back  to  their 
country  seats,  with  hoods  of  waxed  linen  over 
their  heads,  and  wrapped  in  mantles  of  cloth, 
to  secure  them  from  the  cold. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  $5 

There  was  one  misfortune  of  a  singu- 
lar nature,  to  which  women  were  liable  in 
those  days :  they  were  in  perpetual  danger  of 
being  accused  of  witchcraft,  and  suffering  all 
the  cruelties  and  indignities  of  a  mob,  insti- 
gated by  superstition  and  directed  by  enthu- 
siasm; or  of  being  condemned  by  laws, 
which  were  at  once  a  disgrace  to  humanity 
and  to  sense.  Even  the  bloom  of  youth  and 
beauty  could  not  secure  them  from  torture 
and  from  death.  But  when  age  and  wrin- 
kles attacked  a  woman,  if  any  thing  uncom- 
mon happened  in  her  neighbourhood,  she  was 
almost  sure  of  atoning  with  her  life,  for  a 
crime  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  commit. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

Of  the  Arabian  JFomer. 

THE  consequence  of  the  women  in  Ara- 
bia was  annihilated  by  Mahomet.  But  be- 
fore his  time  they  seem  to  have  possessed 
privileges  hardly  inferior  to  those  with  which 
they  are  honoured  in  the  politest  countries  of 
Europe. 

The  law  gave  them  a  right  to  independent 
property,  either  by  inheritance,  by  gift,  or  by 
marriage  settlement.  The  wife  had  a  regu- 
lar dower,  and  an  annual  allowance,  which 
she  might  dispose  of  in  her  life  time,  or  at 
her  death. 

To  the  fortune  he  received  with  his  wife, 
Cadhiga,  who  carried  on  an  extensive  trade 


86  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

to  Spain  and  Syria,  Mahomet  himself  was 
indebted  for  the  origin  of  his  wealth  and 
grandeur. 

While  his  sect  was  increasing,  the  women 
of  rank  took  an  active  part  both  in  civil  and 
military  affairs.  Several  of  them  strongly 
opposed  all  his  innovations.  Henda,  accom- 
panied by  fifteen  other  ladies  of  distinction, 
contributed  to  his  defeat  at  the  battle  of  Ohod. 
After  his  death,  Ayesha,  one  of  his  widows, 
by  her  influence  and  address,  raised  her  father 
Abubeker  to  be  the  successor  of  her  hus- 
band. 

But  the  religion  which  taught  that  women 
were  only  mere  objects  of  pleasure,  and  the 
maxims  which  dictated  that  they  should  be 
guarded  for  that  particular  purpose,  now  be- 
coming general,  in  little  more  than  a  century 
they  seem  to  have  dwindled  from  creatures  of 
importance,  to  beings  only  consecrated  to 
dalliance  and  love. 

Such  were  the  consequences  of  Mahomet- 
anisrn.  But  no  innovation  that  could  hap- 
pen in  the  ages  in  which  it  was  introduced, 
need  much  surprise  us.  The  politics  of  the 
Arabians  were  then  regulated  by  no  fi'xed 
principles.  Their  religion  had  disgusted  the 
mind  with  idle  articles  of  belief,  and  impro- 
bable fictions.  This  was  not  the  case  in  Ara- 
bia only:  human  nature,  as  was  before  ob- 
served, seemed  every  where  in  a  state  of  wa- 
vering and  imbecility.  In  Europe  it  endea- 
voured to  blend  the  meek  and  forgiving  spirit 
of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  with  the  fierce  and 
intolerant  spirit  of  war  and  bloodshed;  and 


THE  FAIR  SEX,  £7 

the  same  tender  sentiment  which  bound  a 
lover  to  his  mistress,  instigated  him,  in  the 
most  savage  manner,  to  cut  the  throats  of  all 
those  who  openly  professed  either  to  love  or 
hate  her. 


CHAPTER  XXIL 

On  the  Learning  of  TFomcn. 

WHEN  chivalry  began  to  decline  in  Eu- 
rope, it  left  behind  it  a  tincture  of  romantic 
gallantry  in  the  manners,  which  communicat- 
ed itself  to  the  works  of  imagination. 

Many  verses  were  then  written,  expressive 
of  passions  either  real  or  feigned,  but  always 
respectful  and  tender.  In  France,  where  the 
dissipated  nobility  spent  their  life  in  war,  love 
was  generally  painted  under  the  idea  of  eon- 
quest.  In  Italy,  where  another  set  of  ideas 
prevailed,  it  was  always  represented  as  an 
adoration  or  worship. 

This  confusion  of  religion  and  gallantry, 
of  Piatonism  ar.d  poetry,  of  the  study  of  the 
languages  and  of  the  laws,  of  the  ancient  phi- 
losophy and  the  modern  theology,  formed  the 
general  character  of  the  most  illustrious  men 
of  those  times.  The  same  observation  may 
be  extended  to  the  most  celebrated  women. 

Never  were  the  women  so  universally  dis- 
tinguished for  profound  learning,  as  in  this 
period.  Perhaps,  as  it  followed  the  ages  of 
chivalry,  when  several  women  had  disputed 
with   men   the  prize  of  valour,  being   de- 


$8  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

sirous  to  establish  the  equality  of  their  sex 
in  all  things,  they  were  ambitious  to  prove 
that  they  had  as  much  genius  as  courage ; 
and  to  subject,  even  by  their  talents,  those 
over  whom  they  reigned  by  their  beauty. 

The  general  spirit  of  this  period  is  worthy 
of  observation.  We  might  then  have  seen 
women  preaching,  and  mixing  themselves  in 
controversies  ;  women  occupying  the  chairs 
of  philosophy  and  of  justice  ;  women  ha- 
ranguing in  Latin  before  the  Pope  ;  women 
writing  in  Greek,  and  studying  Hebrew. 
Nuns  were  poetesses,  and  women  of  quality 
divines.  And  young  girls,  who  had  studied 
eloquence,  would,  with  the  sweetest  counte- 
nances, and  the  most  plaintive  voices  in  the 
world,  go  and  pathetically  exhort  the  Pope 
and  the  Christian  princes  to  declare  war 
against  the  Turks. 

The  religious  spirit,  which  has  animated 
women  in  all  ages,  shewed  itself  at  this  time  ; 
but  it  changed  its  form.  It  had  made  them, 
by  turns,  martyrs,  apostles,  warriors,  and 
concluded  in  making  them  divines  and  scho- 
lars. 

An  incredible  value  was  still  set  on  the  stu- 
dy of  languages.  In  private  families,  in  the 
convents,  in  the  courts,  and  even  upon  thrones, 
the  same  taste  reigned.  It  was  but  a  poor 
qualification  for  a  woman  to  read  Virgil  and 
Cicero.  The  mouth  of  a  young  Italian,  Spa- 
nish, or  British  lady  seemed  adorned  with  a 
particular  grace,  when  she  repeated  some 
Hebrew  phrase,  or  thundered  out  some  verses 
of  Homer. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  8f 

Poetry,  so  charming  to  the  imagination  and 
to  susceptible  hearts,  was  embraced  with  ar- 
dour by  the  women.  It  was  a  new  and  pleas- 
ing exertion  of  talents,  which  flattered  self- 
love,  and  amused  the  mind.  Perhaps,  too, 
that  want  which  they  experienced,  even  with- 
out suspecting  it,  in  a  subtle  philosophy,  an 
abstract  theology  and  an  empty  study  of  dia- 
lects and  of  sounds,  would  make  them  more 
sensible  to  the  charms  of  an  art,  which  con- 
tinually feeds  the  imagination  with  its  images, 
and  the  heart  with  its  sentiments. 

I  shall  particularize  a  few  of  the  women 
who  were  most  celebrated  for  their  learning 
and  talents  in  that  period. 

In  the  thirteenth  century,  a  young  lady  of 
Bologna  devoted  herself  to  the  study  of  the  La- 
tin language  and  of  the  laws.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  she  pronounced  a  funeral  oration 
in  Latin  in  the  great  church  of  Bologna  ;  and, 
to  be  admitted  as  an  orator,  she  had  neither 
need  of  indulgence,  on  account  of  her  youth, 
nor  her  sex.  At  the  age  of  twenty-six,  she 
took  the  degree  of  a  doctor  of  laws,  and  be- 
gan publicly  to  expound  the  Institutions  of 
Justinian.  At  the  age  of  thirty,  her  great  re- 
putation raised  her  to  a  chair,  where  she  taught 
the  law  to  a  prodigious  concourse  of  scholars 
from  all  nations.  She  joined  the  charms  and 
accomplishments  of  a  woman  to  all  the  know- 
ledge of  a  man.  But  such  was  the  power  of 
her  eloquence,  that  her  beauty  was  only  ad- 
mired when  her  tongue  was  silent. 

In  the  fourteenth  century,  a  like  example 
was  exhibited  in  that  city.     In  the  fifteenth 


$o  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

century,  the  same  prodigy  appeared  there  a 
third  time.  And,  even  at  this  clay,  in  the  city 
ef  Bologna,  there  is  still  a  learned  chair  filled 
with  honor  by  a  woman. 

At  Venice,  in  the  course  of  the  sixteenth 
eentury,  two  celebrated  women  attract  our  no- 
tice. The  one  *  composed  successfully  a 
great  number  of  pieces  in  verse,  serious,  com- 
ic, heroic,  and  tender  ;  and  some  pastorals, 
which  were  much  admired.  The  other  f, 
who  was  one  of  the  most  learned  women  of 
Italy,  wrote  equally  well  the  three  languages 
of  Komer,  Virgil,  and  Dante,  and  in  verse  as 
well  as  in  prose.  She  possessed  all  the  philo- 
sophy of  her  own,  and  of  the  preceding  ages. 
By  her  graces,  she  even  embellished  theolo- 
gy. She  supported  these  with  the  greatest 
iustre.  She  gave  public  lectures  at  Padua. 
She  joined  to  her  serious  studies  the  elegant 
arts,  particularly  music  ;  and  softened  her 
learning  still  farther  by  her  manners.  She  re- 
ceived homage  from  sovereign  pontiff  and 
sovereign  princes  ;  and,  that  she  might  be 
singular  in  all  things,  she  lived  upwards  of  a 
eentury. 

At  Verona,  Issotta  Nogarolla  acquired  so 
great  a  reputation  by  her  eloquence,  that  kings 
were  curious  to  listen,  and  scholars  to  attend, 
to  hear,  and  to  see. 

At  Florence,  a  nun  of  the  house  of  Strozzi 
dispelled  the  languor  and  indolence  of  the  clois- 
ter by  her  taste  for  letters  ;  and,  in  her  soli- 
tude/ was  known  over  Italy,  Germany,  and 
France. 

*  Modesri  di  Pozzi  di  Zori. 
f  ^uifandra  Fiaele. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  91 

At  Naples,  Sarrochia  composed  a  celebrated 
poem  uponScandeberg;  and,  in  her  lifetime, 
was  compared  to  Boyardo  and  to  Tasso. 

At  Rome,  we  find  Victoria  Colonna,  mar- 
chioness of  Pescaira,  who  passionately  loved 
and  successfully  cultivated  letters.  While 
still  young,  she  bewailed  the  loss  of  a  husband, 
who  was  a  great  warrior,  and  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  her  life  in  study  and  melancholy, 
celebrating  in  the  most  tender  poetry,  the  he- 
ro whom  she  loved. 

During  the  same  age,  among  the  illustrious 
women  of  all  ages,  we  find  every  where  the 
same  character,  and  the  same  kind  of  studies. 

In  Spain,  Isabella  of  Rosera  preached  in 
the  great  church  of  Barcelona,  came  to  Rome 
under  Paul  the  Third,  and  converted  the  Jews 
by  her  eloquence.  Isabella  of  Cardoua  un- 
derstood the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  ; 
and,  though  possessed  of  beauty,  reputation, 
and  riches,  had  still  the  fancy  to  be  a  doctor, 
and  took  her  degrees  in  theology. 

In  France  we  see  several  women  possessed 
of  all  the  learning  of  the  times,  particularly 
the  dutchess  of  Retz,  who  under  Charles  IX. 
was  celebrated  even  in  Italy,  and  who  astonish- 
ed the  Popish  nobility,  when  they  came  to  de- 
mand the  duke  of  Anjou  for  their  king.  They 
beheld  with  wonder,  at  the  court,  a  young  la- 
ly  so  intelligent,  and  who  spoke  the  ancient 
languages  with  no  iess  purity  than  grace. 

In  England,  we  meet  with  the  three  Sey- 
mours, sisters,  nieces  to  a  king,  and  daugh- 
ters to  a  regent,  all  celebrated  for  their  learn- 
ing, and  for  their  elegant  Latin  verses,  which 
were  translated  and  repeated  all  over  Europe. 


92  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Jane  Gray,  whose  elevation  to  the  throne 
was  only  a  step  to  the  scaffold,  read  before 
her  death,  in  Greek,  Plato's  Dialogue  on  the 
Immortality  of  the  Soul. 

The  eldest  daughter  of  the  illustrious  chan- 
cellor Sir  Thomos  More,  was  a  wise  and 
amiable  lady.  Her  learning  was  almost  eclips- 
ed by  her  virtues.  She  corresponded  in  La- 
tin with  the  great  Erasmus,  who  styled  her 
the  ornament  of  Briton.  After  she  had  con- 
soled her  father  in  prison,  had  rushed  through 
the  guards  to  snatch  a  last  embrace,  had  ob- 
tained the  liberty  of  paying  him  funeral  ho- 
nours, had  purchased  his  head  with  gold — 
she  was  herself  loaded  with  fetters  for  two 
crimes — for  having  kept  the  head  of  her  fa- 
ther as  a  relic,  and  for  having  preserved  his 
books  and  writings.  She  appeared  before  her 
judges  with  intrepidity;  justified  herself  with 
that  eloquence  which  virtue  bestows  on  in- 
jured merit,  commanded  admiration  and  re- 
spect, and  passed  the  rest  of  her  life  in  retire- 
ment, in  melancholy,  and  in  study. 

We  behold  in  Scotland,  Mary  Stuart,  heir 
of  that  crown,  the  most  beautiful  woman  of 
her  age,  and  one  of  the  most  learned,  who 
could  write  and  speak  six  languages,  who 
made  elegant  verses  in  French,  and  who, 
when  very  young,  delivered  an  oration  in  La- 
tin, to  the  court  of  France,  to  prove  that  the 
study  of  letters  is  consistent  with  the  female 
character.  So  lovely  and  so  happy  an  exam- 
ple of  the  truth  which  she  advanced,  could 
not  fail  to  convince.  Mary  added  to  her 
learning  a  delicate  taste  in  the  polite  arts,  par- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  93 

ticularly  music,  and  adorned  the  whole  with 
the  most  feminine  courtly  manners. 

What  has  since  been  called  society  was  not 
then  indeed  so  much  known.  Luxury,  and 
the  want  of  occupation,  had  not  introduced 
the  custom  of  sitting  five  or  six  hours  before 
a  glass  to  invent  fashions.  Some  use  was 
made  of  time.  Hence  that  variety  of  lan- 
guages, arts  and  sciences,  which  were  acquir- 
ed by  women. 

It  is  but  just,  however,  to  observe,  that  the 
vanity  of  undertaking  every  thing  is  peculiar 
to  the  infancy  of  letters.  In  childhood,  all 
the  world  over-rate  their  powers.  It  is  only 
by  measuring  them  that  we  come  to  know 
them.  The  desires  themselves  were  then 
more  easily  satisfied  than  the  thirst  of  learn- 
ing. People  were  more  anxious  to  know  than 
to  think;  and  the  mind,  more  active  truth  ex- 
tended, was  unable  to  comprehend  the  se- 
crets, or  reach  the  depth  of  the  sciences. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Of  the  European  Women, 

IN  all  polished  nations,  chastity  has  ever 
been  esteemed  the  principle  ornament  of  the 
female  character.  For  this  virtue  the  Euro- 
pean ladies  are  very  eminent;  Their  conduct 
is  influenced  by  a  veneration  for  that  purity  of 
manners  and  of  character,  so  sbortgiy  incul- 
cated by  the  precepts  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion. We  may  justly  assert  that  Europe,  ia 
*  I  2 


94  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 


in  any 


general,  is  more  famous  for  the  chastity, 
other  good  qualities  of  its  women,  thai 
other  part  of  the  globe. 

The  virtues  of  modesty  and  chastity,  how- 
ever,  do  not  flourish  most,  where  they  are 
attempted  to  be  forced  upon  the  women  by 
locks,  bars  and  governates,  as  in  Spain ;  nor 
where  unrestrained  liberty  and  politeness  are 
carried  to  the  greatest  length,  as  in  France 
and  Italy  ;  but  rather  where  refinement  is  not 
arrived  so  far,  as  to  reckon  every  restraint 
upon  inclination  a  mark  of  ill- breeding* 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Of  the  French   Women. 


j 


T  HOUGH  the  ladies  of  France  are  not 
very  handsome,  they  are  sensible  and  witty. 
To  many  of  them,  without  the  least  flattery, 
may  be  applied  the  distich  which  Sappho  as- 
cribes to  herself  : 

*<  Si  mihi  difficiiis  formam  nutura  pegavit, 
««  Ingenio  forra<e  damoa  rependo  mess." 

If  partial  nature  has  denied  me  beauty,  the 
charms  of  my  mind  amply  make  up  for  the 
deficiency. 

No  woman  upon  earth  can  excel,  and  few 
rival  them,  in  their  almost  native  arts  of  pleas- 
ing all  who  approach  them.  Add  to  this,  an 
education  beyond  that  of  most  European  la- 
dies, a  consummate  skill  in  those  accomplish- 
ments that  suit  the  fair  sex,  and  the  most 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  95 

graceful  manner  of  displaying  that  know- 
ledge to  the  utmost  advantage. 

Such  is  the  description  that  may  safely  be 
given  of  the  French  ladies  in  general.  But 
the  spirit,  or  rather  the  evil  ge?iius  of  gallant- 
ry,  too  often  perverts  all  these  lovely  qualities, 
and  renders  them  subservient  to  very  iniquit- 
ous ends. 

In  every  country,  women  have  always  a 
little  to  do,  and  a  great  deal  to  say.  In 
France,  they  dictate  almost  every  thing  that  is 
said,  and  direct  every  thing  that  is  clone. — 
They  are  the  most  restless  beings  in  the 
world.  To  fold  her  hands  in  idleness,  and  im- 
pose silence  on  her  tongue,  would  be  to  a 
French  woman  worse  than  death.  The  sole 
joy  of  her  life  is  to  be  engaged  in  the  prose- 
cution of  some  scheme,,  relating  either  to 
fashion,  ambition  or  love* 

Among  the  rich  and  opulent,  they  are  en- 
tirely the  votaries  of  pleasure,  which  they 
pursue  through  all  its  labyrinths,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  fortune,  reputation  and  health. — 
Giddy  and  extravagant  to  the  last  degree, 
they  leave  to  the'u  husbands  economy  and 
care,  which  would  only  spoil  their  complex- 
ions and  furrow  their  brows. 

When  we  descend  to  tradesmen  and  me- 
chanics, the  case  is  reversed ;  the  wife  ma- 
nages every  thing  in  the  house  and  shop, 
while  the  husband  lounges  in  the  back-shop 
fcfcn  idle  spectator,  or  struts  about  with  his 
sword  and  bag- wig. 

Matrimony  among  the  French,  seems  to  be 
a  bargain  entered  into  by  a  male  and  female 


96  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

to  bear  the  same  name,  live  in  the  same  house, 
and  pursue  their  separate  pleasures  without 
restramt  or  control.  And,  so  religiously  is 
this  part  of  the  bargain  kept,  that  both  par- 
ties shape  their  course  exactly  as  convenience 
and  inclination  dictate. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  world,  however, 
where  the  company  of  men  of  letters  is  more 
acceptable  to  the  fair  sex  than  in  France. — 
This  circumstance  diffuses  knowledge  among 
the  women,  gives  an  elegance  and  cheerful- 
ness to  the  men,  and  renders  them  men  of 
the  world  as  well  as  of  learning.  So  great  is 
female  influence  over  literature,  as  well  as 
ever  every  other  thing  in  France,  that  by  far 
the  most  considerable  part  of  the  productions 
of  the  press  are  calculated  for  their  capacity. 

In  no  country  does  real  politeness  shew  it- 
self more  than  in  France,  where  the  company 
of  the  women  is  accessible  to  every  man  who 
can  recommend  himself  by  his  dress,  and  by 
his  address.  To  affectation  and  prudery  the 
French  women  are  equally  strangers.  Easy 
^nd  unaffected  in  their  manners,  their  polite- 
ness has  so  much  the  appearance  of  nature, 
that  one  would  almost  believe  no  part  of  it  to 
be  the  effect  of  art.  An  air  of  sprightliness 
and  gaity  sets  perpetually  on  their  counte- 
nances, and  their  whole  deportment  seems  tq^ 
indecatc  that  their  only  business  is  to  "  strew" 
the  path  of  life  with  flowers."  Persuas| 
hangs  on  their  lips ;  and,  though  their  v 
bility  of  tongue  is  indefatigable,  so  soft 
their  accent,  so  lively  their  expression,  so  va 


THE  FAIR  SEX*  *7 

rious  their  attitudes,  that  they  fix  the  attention 
for  hours  together  on  a  tale  of  nothing. 

The  Jewish  doctors  have  a  fable  concern- 
ing the  etymology  of  the  word  Eve,  which 
one  would  almost  be  tempted  to  say  is  realiz- 
ed in  the  French  women.  "  £ve>"  say  they, 
"  comes  from  a  word,  which  signifies  to  talk  ; 
and  she  was  so  called,  because,  soon  after  the 
creation,  there  fell  from  Heaven  twelve  bas- 
kets full  of  chit-chat,  and  she  picked  up  nine 
of  them,  while  her  husband  was  gathering 
the  other  three" 

The  wind,  or  the  fashions  which  she  fol- 
lows, are  hardly  more  inconsistent  than  a 
French  lady's  mind.  Her  sole  joy  is  in  the 
number  of  her  admirers,  and  her  sole  pride 
in  changing  them  as  often  as  possible.  Over 
the  whole  of  them  she  exercises  the  most  ab- 
solute power,  and  they  are  zealously  attentive 
even  to  prevent  her  wishes,  by  performing 
whatever  they  think  she  has  any  inclination  to. 
Their  time,  their  interest  and  activity,  arc 
wholly  devoted  to  her  will,  or  rather  to  her 
caprice.  Even  the  purse,  that  most  inacces- 
sible thing  about  a  Frenchman,  must  pour 
out  its  last  sous,  at  the  call  of  his  mistress. 
Should  he  fail  in  this  particular,  he  would 
immediately  be  discarded  from  her  train, 
with  the  disgrace  of  having  preferred  Mercu- 
ry to  Venus. 

While  a  French  woman  is  able  to  drink  at 

the  stream  of  pleasure,  she  is  generally  an 

atheist.     As  her  taste  for  that  diminishes,  she 

mes  gradually  religious ;  and  when  she 


98  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

has  lost  it  altogether,  is  the  most  bigotted 
devotee. 

Upon  the  whole,  French  females  rather  sa- 
crifice too  much  of  their  delicacy  to  wit,  and 
of  their  chastity  to  good  breeding.  They  pay 
too  little  regard  to  their  character,  and  too 
much  to  a  ridiculous  opinion  that  fashionable 
people  are  above  it.  They  are  too  much  the 
creatures  of  art,  and  have  almost  discarded 
nature  as  much  from  their  feelings  as  from 
their  faces. 

To  what  has  been  said  on  this  subject,  I 
shall  only  add  the  following  entertaining  de- 
scription of  French  gallantry,  and  French 
manners. 

"A  Frenchman," says  an  ingenious  writer* 
"  piques  himself  upon  being  polished  above 
the  natives  of  any  other  country,  by  his  con- 
versation with  the  fair  sex.  In  the  course  of 
this  communication,  with  which  he  is  indulg- 
ed from  his  tender  years,  he  learns,  like  a 
parrot,  by  rote,  the  whole  circle  of  French 
compliments,  which  are  a  set  of  phrases,  ri- 
diculous even  to  a  proverb ;  and  these  he 
throws  out  indiscriminately  to  all  women 
without  distinction,  in  the.,  exercise  of  that 
kind  of  address,  which  is  here  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  gallantry.  It  is  an  exercise, 
by  the  repetition  of  which  he  becomes  very' 
pert,  very  familiar,  and  very  impertinent. 

"  A  frenchman,  in  consequence  of  his 
mingling  with  the  females  from  his  infancy,  not 
only  becomes  acquainted  with  all  their  cus- 
toms and  humors,  but  grows  wonderfully  alert 
in  performing  a  thousand  little  offices,  which 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  99 

are  overlooked  by  other  men,  whose  time  has 
been  spent  in  making  more  valuable  acquisi- 
tions. He  enters,  without  ceremony  a  lady's 
bed  chamber,  attends  her  at  her  toi!-  tie,  re- 
gulates the  distribution  of  her  pjatjches,  and  ad- 
vises where  to  lay  on  the  par  t.  If  lie  visits 
her  when  she  is  dressed,  and  perceives  the 
least  impropriety  in  her  Coiffure,  he  insists 
upon  adjusting  it  with  his  own  hands.  If  he 
sees  a  curl,  or  even  a  single  hair  amiss,  he 
produces  his  comb,  his  scissars,  and  poma- 
tum, and  sets  it  to  rights  with  the  dexterity  of 
a  professed  frizeur.  He  squires  her  to  every- 
place she  visits,  either  on  business  or  pleasure; 
and  by  dedicating  his  whole  time  to  her,  ren- 
ders himself  necessary  to  her  occasions.  In 
short,  of  all  the  coxcombs  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  a  French  petit- maitre  is  the  most  imper- 
tinent. And  they  are  all  petits-maitres,  from 
the  marquis  who  glitters  in  lace  and  embroi- 
dery, to  the  garcon  barbiere  (barber's  boy) 
covered  with  meal,  who  struts  with  hishair 
in  a  long  queue,  and  his  hat  under  his  arm. 
"  I  shall  only  mention  one  custom  more, 
which  seems  to  carry  human  affectation  to 
the  very  farthest  verge  of  folly  and  extrava- 
gance :  that  is,  the  manner  in  which  the  faces 
of  the  ladies  are  primed  and  painted.  It  is 
generally  supposed  that  part  of  the  f\ir 
sex,  in  some  other  countries,  make  use  of 
fard  and  vermillion  for  very  different  pur- 
poses ;  namely,  to  help  a  bad  or  faded  com- 
plexion, to  heighten  the  graces,  or  conceal  the 
defects  of  nature,  as  well  as  of  the  ravages  of 
time.     I  shall  not  inquire  whether  it  is  just 


loo  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

and  honest  to  impose  in  this  manner  on  man- 
kind. If  it  is  not  honest,  it  may  be  allowed  to 
be  artful  and  politic,  and  shows,  at  least,  a  de- 
sire of  being  agreeable.  But  to  lay  it  on  as 
the  fashion  in  France  prescribes  to  all  the  la- 
dies cf  condition,  who  indeed  cannot  appear 
without  this  badge  of  distinction,  is  to  dis- 
guise themselves  in  such  a  manner  as  to  ren- 
der them  odious  and  detestible  to  every 
spectator  who  has  the  least  relish  left  for  na- 
ture and  propriety. 

As  for  the  fard,  or  white,  with  which  their 
necks  and  shoulders  are  plaistered,  it  may  be 
in  some  measure  excusable,  as  their  skins  are 
naturally  brown  or  sallow.  But  the  rouge 
which  is  daubed  on  their  faces,  from  the  chin 
up  to  the  eyes,  without  the  least  art  or  dex- 
terity, not  only  destroys  all  distinction  of  fea- 
tures, but  renders  the  aspect  really  frightful, 
or  at  least  conveys  nothing  but  ideas  of  disgust 
and  aversion.  Without  this  horrible  mask, 
no  married  lady  is  admitted  at  court,  or  in 
any  polite  assembly  ;  and  it  is  a  mark  of  dis- 
tinction which  none  of  the  lower  classes  dare 
assume." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Of  the  Italian  Women. 

THE  elegant  author  Dr.  Goldsmith  thus 
characterises  the  Italians  in  general : 

"  Could  nature's  bounty  satisfy  the  breast, 
The  sons  of  Italy  were  surely  blest. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  Id 

Whatever  fruits  in  different  climes  are  found, 
That  proudly  rise,  or  humbly  court  the  ground; 
Whatever  blooms  in  torrid  tracts  appear, 
Whose  bright  succession  decks  the  varied 

year  : 
Whatever  sweets  salute  the  northern  sky, 
With  vernal  leaves  that  blossom  but  to  die  : 
These  here  disporting,  own  the  kindred  soil, 
Nor  ask  luxuriance  from  their  planter's  toil  ; 
While  sea-born  gales  their  gelid  wings  ex- 
pand, 
To  winnow  fragrance  round  the  smiling  land, 
"  But  small  the  bliss  that  sense  alone  be- 
stows, 
And  sensual  Wise  is  all  the  nation  knows. 
In  florid  beauty  groves  and  fields  appear, 
Man  seems  the  only  growth  that  dwindles 

here. 
Contrasted  faults  thro'  all  his  manners  reign ; 
Though  poor,  luxurious  ;  though  submis- 
sive, vain ; 
Though  grave,  yet  trifling  ;  zealous,  yet  un- 
true; 
And  e'en  in  penance  planning  sins  anew. 
All  evils  here  contaminate  the  mind, 
That  opulence  departed  leaves  behind  : 
For  wealth  was  theirs,  not  far  remov'd  the 

date, 
When  commerce  proudly  fiourish'd  thro'  the 

state  ; 
At  her  command  the  palace  learn'd  to  rise, 
Again  the  long-fall'n  column  sought  the  skies; 
The  canvas  glow'd,  beyond  e'en  nature  warm ; 
The  pregnant  quarry  teem'd  with  human  form. 
Till,  more  unsteady  than  the  southern  gale, 


102  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Commerce  on  other  shores  display  'd  her  sail ; 
While  naught  remain'dof  all  that  riches  gave, 
But  towns  unmann'd,    and  lords  without  a 

slave ; 
And   late  the  nation   found,   with   fruitless 

skill, 
Its  former  strength  was  but  plethoric  ill. 

"  Yet  still  the  loss  of  wealth  is  here  sup- 
plied 
By  arts,  the  splendid  wrecks  of  former  pride ; 
From  these  the  feeble  heart  and  long-fall'n 

mind 
An  easy  compensation  seem  to  find. 
Here  may  be  seen  in  bloodless  pomp  array 'd, 
The  pasteboard  triumph,  and  the  cavalcade  : 
Processions  form'd  for  piety  and  love, 
A  mistress  or  a  saint  in  every  grove." 

Almost  every  traveller  who  has  visited  Ita- 
ly, agrees  in  describing  it  as  the  most  aban- 
doned of  all  the  countries  of  Europe.  At 
Venice,  at  Naples,  and  indeed  in  almost  every 
part  of  Italy,  women  are  taught  from  their  in- 
fancy the  various  arts  of  alluring  to  their  arms 
the  young  and  unwary,  and  of  obtaining  from 
them,  while  heated  by  love  or  wine,  every 
thing  that  flattery  and  false  smiles  can  obtain, 
in  these  unguarded  moments. 

The  Italian  ladies  are  not  quite  so  gay  and 
volatile  as  the  French,  nor  do  they  so  much 
excite  the  risibility  of  the  spectator;  but  by 
the  softness  of  their  language,  and  their  man- 
ner, they  more  forcibly  engage  the  heart. 
They  are  not  so  much  the  cameleon  or  the 
weather  cock,  but  have  some  decent  degree 
of  permanency  in  their  connections,  whether 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  103 

of  love  or  friendship.  With  regard  to  jealou- 
sy, they  are  so  far  from  being  careless  and  in- 
different, in  that  respect,  as  the  French  are, 
that  they  often  suffer  it  to  transport  them  to 
the  most  unwarrantable  actions. 

The  Italian  women  are  far  preferable  to  the 
French  in  point  of  exterior  charms  ;  but 
their  education  is,  in  general,  most  scanda- 
lously neglected.  Those  accomplishments, 
which  render  the  ladies  in  England  and  in 
France,  so  acceptable  in  company,  are  but 
rarely  found  among  the  Italians,  who  depend 
chiefly  on  their  native  subtlety  and  finesse,  to 
ingratiate  themselves  with  such  as  they  deem 
worthy  of  their  notice. 

Love,  in  Italy,  meets  with  very  small  en- 
couragement from  the  great.  That  innocent, 
pure  and  sentimental  passion,  which  the  sanc- 
tion of  strictest  virtue  authorises,  is  almost 
cbliterated  among  them.  The  sordid  mo- 
motives,  which  to  the  disgrace  of  most  na- 
tions, have  so  much  undue  influence  over 
them  in  their  matrimonial  connections,  arc 
still  much  more  infamously  prevalent  among 
the  nobility  and  gentry  of  Italy. 

An  Italian  female  of  birth  and  fortune,  bred 
in  the  prison  of  a  cloister,  is  brought  forth, 
when  marriageable,  to  receive  her  sentence ; 
and  conducted  like  a  victim  to  the  altar,  there 
to  be  made  a  sacrifice  to  a  man  of  whom  she 
hardly  knows  the  face.  Among  them,  we 
find  none  of  those  antecedent  homages  of  a 
lover,  none  of  those  engaging  proofs  of  at- 
tachment, which  only  can  secure  a  reciproca- 
tion.    In  short,  no  medium  of  courtship  in- 


104  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

tcrvenes,  and  therefore  no  opportunity  is  giv* 
em  to  create  an  affection  on  either  side. 

There  exists  in  Italy  a  species  of  beings 
unknown  throughout  the  rest  of  Europe; 
\rho,  though  their  rise  be  not  remotely  dis- 
tant, have  wrought  a  change  in  the  temper 
and  manners  of  the  Italians,  that  renders 
them,  in  some  respects,  a  people  totally  dif- 
ferent from,  what  they  were  a  century  ago. — 
These  beings  are  well  known  by  the  name 
cicisbeys,  and  may  be  considered  in  the  light 
of  assistants  and  substitutes  to  those  men  of 
fashion  who  have  entered  into  the  matrimo- 
nial state,  and  whose  fair  partners  require 
more  attendance,  than  they  are  willing,  or 
than  their  occupations  and  affairs  will  allow 
them  to  give.  This  institution  appears  an 
admirable  relief  to  those  young  gentlemen, 
wrho  are  afraid,  from  sundry  motives,  to  ven- 
ture on  a  wife,  and  yet  are  unwilling  to  re- 
nounce the  soft  amusements  resulting  from 
the  society  of  a  female  companion. 

Hence  at  first  sight,  this  employment  of  a 
cicisbey  may  seem  delightful  to  persons  of  a 
dissolute  and  libertine  disposition  ;  but  many 
a  one,  who  sought  it  with  all  the  eagerness  of 
inexperience,  has  heartily  regretted  the  day 
of  his  admission  to  a  servitude,  which  robs 
him  of  every  moment  of  his  liberty,  and 
gives  the  lady,  under  whose  banners  he  has 
enlisted  himself,  an  absolute  command  of  his 
person,  his  time,  his  means,  his  credit,  and 
whatever  he  can  call  his  own.  An  Italian 
woman  knows  no  reserves ;  and  he  that  pre- 
tends to  her  good  graces  must  divest  himself 


THE  FAIR  SSX.  105 

of  his  will  and  passions,  and  make  an  entire 
sacrifice  of  them  to  her  caprice.  Thus  a 
cicisbey  is  a  perfect  slave;  and  though  no  fa- 
vours are  denied  him,  yet  the  price  he  pays 
is  far  beyond  the  value  he  receives,  when  we 
reflect  that  he  barters  for  it  the  peace  of  his 
mind,  and  the  prosperity  of  his  circumstances : 
as  it  very  often  happens  that  advancements  in 
life  are  retarded,  and  sometimes  totally  frus- 
trated, through  the  impediments  thrown  in 
the  way  of  activity  by  the  attentions  a  lady 
insists  upon  from  him,  who,  by  the  fatal  office 
he  has  accepted,  has  bound  himself  to  perpet- 
ual slavery. 

But  if  such  a  connection,  viewed  only  in  a 
light  of  pleasure  and  gallantry,  is  so  very  far 
from  answering  the  expectations  even  of  the 
man  of  mere  pleasure,  it  still  displays  a  more 
shocking  picture,  when  we  examine  it  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  morality,  as  it  radical- 
ly destroys  the  very  first  principles  on  which 
the  reciprocal  happiness  of  the  sexes  is  found- 
ed, by  introducing  into  the  wedded  state  a 
mutual  indifference  or  contempt. 


jo6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

CHATTER  XXVI. 

Of  the  Spanish  Women. 

AS  the  Spanish  ladies  are  under  a  greater 
seclusion  from  general  society,  than  the  sex  is 
in  other  European  countries,  their  desires  of 
an  adequate  degree  of  liberty  are  consequent- 
ly more  strong  and  urgent.  A  free  and  open 
communication  being  denied  them,  they  make 
it  their  business  to  secure  themselves  a  secret 
and  hidden  one.  Hence  it  is  that  Spain  is 
the  country  of  intrigue. 

The  Spanish  women  are  little  or  nothing 
indebted  to  education.  But  nature  has  libe- 
rally supplied  them  with  a  fund  of  wit  and 
sprightliness,  which  is  certainly  no  small  in- 
ducement to  those,  who  have  only  transient 
glimpses  of  their  charms,  to  wish  very  ear- 
nestly for  a  removal  of  those  impediments, 
that  "obstruct  their  more  frequent  presence. — 
This  not  being  attainable  in  a  lawful  way  of 
customary  intercourse,  the  natural  propensity 
of  men  to  overcome  difficulties  of  this  kind, 
incites  them  to  leave  no  expedient  untried  to 
gain  admittance  to  what  perhaps  was  at  first 
only  the  object  of  their  admiration,  but  which 
by  their  being  refused  an  innocent  gratifica- 
tion of  that  passion,  becomes  at  last  the  sub- 
ject of  a  more  serious  one.  Thus  in  Spain, 
as  in  all  countries  where  the  sex  is  kept  much 
out  of  sight,  the  thoughts  of  men  are  con- 
tinually employed  in  devising  methods  to 
break  into  their  concealments. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  107 

There  is  ia  the  Spaniards  a  native  dignity  ; 
which,  though  the  source  of  many  inconve- 
niences, has  nevertheless  this  salutary  effect, 
that  it  sets  them  above  almost  every  species 
of  meanness  and  infidelity.  This  quality  is 
not  peculiar  to  the  men ;  it  diffuses  itself,  in 
a  great  measure,  among  the  women  also. — 
Its  effects  are  visible  both  in  their  constancy 
in  love  and  friendship,  in  which  respects  they 
are  the  very  reverse  of  the  French  women. 
Their  affections  are  not  to  be  gained  by  a  bit 
of  sparkling  lace,  or  a  tawdry  set  of  liveries ; 
nor  are  they  to  be  lost  by  the  appearance  of 
still  finer.  Their  deportment  is  rather  grave 
and  reserved ;  and,  on  the  whole,  they  have 
much  more  of  the  prude  than  the  coquette  in 
their  composition.  Being  more  confined  at 
home,  and  less  engaged  in  business  and  plea- 
sure, they  take  more  care  of  their  children 
than  the  French,  and  have  a  becoming  tender- 
ness in  their  disposition  to  all  animals,  except 
an  heretic  and  a  rival. 

Something  more  than  a  century  ago,  the 
Marquis  D:x\stogas  having  prevailed  on  a 
young  woman  of  great  beauty  to  become  his 
mistress,  the  Marchioness  hearing  of  it,  went 
to  her  lodging  with  some  assassins,  killed  her, 
tore  out  her  heart,  carried  it  home,  made  a 
ragout  of  it,  and  presented  the  dish  to  the 
Marquis.  "  It  is  exceedingly  good,"  said  he, 
"  No  wonder,"  answered  she,  "  since  it  was 
made  of  the  heart  of  that  creature  you  so 
much  doated  on."  And,  to  confirm  what  she 
had  said,  she  immediately  drew  out  her  head 
all  bloody  from  beneath  her  hoop,  and  roiled 


ic8  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

it  on  the  floor,  her  eyes  sparkling  all  the  time 
with  a  mixture  of  pleasure  and  infernal  fury. 

The  Spaniards  are  indulgent  almost  beyond 
measure  to  their  women  ;  and  there  are  seve- 
ral situations  in  which  they  take  every  advan- 
tage of  this  indulgence.  A  kept  mistress  has, 
by  indisputable  custom,  a  right  to  a  new  suit 
of  clothes,  according  to  the  quality  of  her 
keeper,  as  often  as  she  is  blooded.  She  need 
only  feign  a  slight  illness,  and  be  on  a  proper 
footing  with  the  doctor,  to  procure  this  as 
often  as  she  pleases. 

A  lady  to  whom  a  gentleman  pays  his  ad- 
dresses, is  sole  mistress  of  his  time  and  mo- 
ney ;  and,  should  he  refuse  her  any  request, 
whether  reasonable  or  capricious,  it  would 
reflect  eternal  dishonour  upon  him  among  the 
men,  and  make  him  the  detestation  of  all  the 
women. 

But  in  no  situation  does  their  character  ap- 
pear so  whimsical,  or  their  power  so  conspicu- 
ous, as  when  they  are  pregnant.  In  this  case, 
whatever  they  long  for,  whatever  they  ask,  or 
whatever  they  have  an  inclination  to  do,  they 
must  be  indulged  in. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  109 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Of  the  English  Women, 

THE  women  of  England  are  eminent  for 
jnany  good  qualities  both  of  the  head  and  of 
the  heart.  There  we  meet  with  that  inex- 
pressible softness  and  delicacy  of  manners, 
which,  cultivated  by  education,  appears  as 
much  superior  to  what  it  does  without  it,  as 
the  polished  diamond  appears  superior  to  that 
which  is  rough  from  the  mine.  In  some  parts 
of  the  world,  women  have  attained  to  so  lit- 
tle knowledge,  and  so  little  consequence,  that 
we  consider  their  virtues  as  merely  of  the  ne- 
gative kind.  In  England  they  consist  not  on- 
ly in  abstinence  from  evil,  but  in  doing  good. 

There  we  see  the  sex  every  day  exerting 
themselves  in  acts  of  benevolence  and  chari- 
ty, in  relieving  the  distresses  of  the  body,  and 
binding  up  the  wounds  of  the  mind  ;  in  re- 
conciling the  differences  of  friends,  and  pre- 
venting the  strife  of  enemies  ;  and,  to  sum  up 
all,  in  that  care  and  attention  to  their  offspring, 
which  is  so  necessary  and  essential  a  part  of 
their  duty. 

With  regard  to  the  English  ladies,  Mr. 
Grosley,  a  French  writer,  makes  the  following 
just,  and  very  favorable  remarks :  "  That  sex," 
says  he,  "  is,  in  its  present  state,  just  such 
as  one  could  wish  it  to  be,  in  order  to  form 
the  felicity  of  wedlock.  Their  serious  and 
thoughtful  disposition,  by  rendering  them  se- 
dentary, attaches  them  to  their  husbands,  to 
their  children,  and  the  care  of  their  houses 


II©  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

They,  for  the  most  part,  nurse  their  own  chil- 
dren themselves  :  and  this  custom,  which 
gains  ground  every  day,  is  a  new  tie  of  affec- 
tion to  the  mothers. 

u  The  English  women  are  by  no  means  in- 
different about  public  affairs.  Their  interest- 
ing themselves  in  these,  gives  a  new  pleasure 
to  social  life.  The  husband  always  finds  at 
home  somebody  to  whom  he  can  open  him- 
self, and  converse  as  long  and  as  earnestly  as 
he  thinks  proper,  upon  those  subjects  which 
he  has  most  at  heart. 

"  At  an  assembly  composed  of  both  sexes, 
a  lady  asked  me  whether  I  still  had  many 
curiosities  and  objects  of  observation  to  visit 
in  London  :  I  made  answer  that  there  was 
still  one  of  great  importance  left  for  me  to 
know,  and  that  she  and  her  company  could 
give  me  all  the  information  I  desired  :  this 
was,  whether,  in  England,  the  husband  or  the 
wife  governed  the  house  ?  My  question  be- 
ing explained  to  all  the  ladies  present,  they 
discussed  it,  and  amused  themselves  with  it; 
and  the  answer  which  they  agreed  should  be 
returntd  to  me  was,  that  husbands  alone  could 
resolve  it.  I  then  proposed  it  to  the  husbands, 
who,  with  one  voice  declared  that  they  durst 
not  decide. 

"  The  perplexity  discovered  by  those  gen- 
tlemen, gave  me  the  solution  I  desired.  In 
fact  the  English  ladies  and  wives,  with  the 
most  mild  and  gentle  tone,  and  with  an  air  of 
indifference,  coldness,  and  languor,  exercise 
a  power  equally  despotic  over  both  husbands 
and  lovers  ;  a  power  so  much  the  more  per- 


THE  FAIR  SEX. 

manent,  as  it  is  established  and  supported  by 
a  complaisance  and  submissiveness,  from 
which  they  rarely  depart. 

"  This  complaisance,  this  submission,  and 
this  mildness,  are  happy  virtues  of  constitu- 
tion, which  nature  has  given  them,  to  serve 
as  a  sort  of  mask  to  all  that  is  most  haughty, 
proud,  and  impetuous,  in  the  English  charac- 
ter. 

"  To  the  gifts  of  nature  add  the  charm  of 
beauty,  which  is  very  common  in  England. 
With  regard  to  graces,  the  English  women 
have  those  which  accompany  beauty,  and  not 
those  artificial  graces  that  cannot  supply  its 
place  ;  those  transient  graces,  which  are  not 
the  same  to-day  as  yesterday  ;  those  graces, 
which  are  not  so  much  the  objects  themselves, 
as  in  the  eye  of  the  spectator,  who  has  often 
found  it  difficult  to  discover  them." 

Indeed,  almost  all  foreigners,  on  their  arri- 
val here,  manifest  their  consciousness  of  the 
superior  comeliness  of  our  women,  by  mak- 
ing it  the  continual  topic  of  their  conversation ; 
and  though  some  of  them  are  not  willing  to 
exclude  from  the  right  of  comparison  the  fe- 
males of  their  own  country,  yet  their  cause 
is  espoused  with  so  much  faintness,  that  one 
may  easily  perceive  it  is  only  done  by  way  of 
saving  their  honour,  and  enabling  them  to 
make  a  sort  of  decent  retreat  from  the  field  of 
contention,  where  they  well  know  they  could 
not  maintain  their  ground,  and  therefore  wise- 
ly avoid  much  discourse  on  that  subject. 

Strangers  unanimously  agree  in  their  de- 
scriptions of  our  English  ladies,  with  whose 


112  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

gentleness  of  temper  and  unfeigned  modesty 
they  seem  chiefly  to  be  captivated  ;  and  inva- 
riably concur  in  representing  them  ora  decent, 
unaffcet:  d  deportment,  and  of  a  tender,  affec- 
tionate disposition. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Of  the  Russian  Women* 

IT  is  only  a  few  years  since  the  Russians 
emerged  from  a  state  of  barbarity* 

A  late  empress  of  Russia,  as  a  punishment 
for  some  female  frailties,  ordered  a  most  beau- 
tiful young  lady  of  family  to  be  publicly  chas- 
tised, in  a  manner  which  was  hardly  less  in- 
delicate than  severe. 

It  is  said  that  the  Russian  ladies  were  for- 
merly as  submissive  to  their  husbands  in  their 
families,  as  the  latter  are  to  their  superiors  in 
the  field  ;  and  that  they  thought  themselves  ill 
treated,  if  they  were  not  often  reminded  of 
their  duty  by  the  dicipline  of  a  whip,  manufac- 
tured by  themselves,  which  they  presented 
to  their  husbands  on  the  day  of  their  marri- 
age.  The  latest  travellers,  however,  assert, 
that  they  find  no  remaining  traces  of  this  cus- 
tom at  present. 

Their  nuptial  ceremonies  are  peculiar  to 
themselves  ;  and  formerly  consisted  of  many 
whimsical  rites,  many  of  which  are  now  dis- 
used. On  her  wedding-day,  the  bride  is 
crowned  with  a  garland  of  wormwood  ;  and, 
after  the  priest  has  tied  the  nuptial  knot,  his 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  113 

clerk  or  sexton  throws  a  handful  of  hops  up- 
on the  head  of  the  bride,  wishing  that  she 
might  prove  as  fruitful  as  that  plant.  She  is 
then  led  home,  with  abundance  of  coarse  cere- 
monies, which  are  now  wearing  off  even  a- 
mong  the  lowest  ranks  ;  and  the  barbarous 
treatment  of  wives  by  their  husbands  is  either 
guarded  against  by  the  laws  of  the  country,  or 
by  particular  stipulations  in  the  marriage  con- 
tract. 

In  the  conversation  and  actions  of  the  Rus- 
sian ladies,  there  is  hardly  any  thing  of  that 
softness  and  delicacy  which  distinguish  the 
sex  in  other  parts  of  Europe.  Even  their  ex- 
ercises and  diversions  have  more  of  the  mas- 
culine than  the  feminine.  The  present  em- 
press, with  the  ladies  of  her  court,  sometimes 
divert  themselves  by  shooting  at  a  mark. 
Drunkenness,  the  vice  of  almost  every  cold 
climate,  they  are  so  little  ashamed  of,  that  not 
many  years  ago,  when  a  lady  got  drunk  at 
the  house  of  a  friend,  it  was  customary  for  her 
to  return  next  day,  and  thank  him  for  the  plea- 
sure he  had  done  her. 

Females,  however,  in  Russia,  possess  seve- 
ral advantages.  They  share  the  rank  and  splen- 
dor of  the  families  from  which  they  are  sprung, 
and  are  even  allowed  the  supreme  authority. 
This  at  present,  is  enjoyed  by  an  empress, 
whose  head  does  honour  to  her  nation  and  to 
her  sex  ;  although,  on  some  occasions,  thqj 
virtues  of  her  heart  have  been  much  suspect- •■ 
ed.  The  sex,  in  general,  are  protected  from 
insult  by  many  salutary  laws  ;  and,  except  a- 
mong  the  peasants,  are  exempted  from  every 

Li 


114  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

kind  of  toil  and  slavery.  Upon  the  whole, 
they  seem  to  be  approaching  fast  to  the  en- 
joyment of  that  consequence,  to  which  they 
have  already  arrived  in  several  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Of  the  German  Women. 

OF  all  the  German  females,  the  ladies  of 
Saxony  are  the  most  amiable.  Their  per- 
sons are  so  superiorly  charming  and  prefera- 
ble in  whatever  can  recommend  them  to  the 
notice  of  mankind,  that  the  German  youth  of- 
ten visit  Saxony  in  quest  of  companions  for 
life.  Exclusive  of  their  beauty  and  comeli- 
ness of  appearance,  they  are  brought  up  in  the 
knowledge  of  all  those  arts,  both  useful  and 
ornamental,  which  are  so  brilliant  an  addition 
to  their  native  attractions.  But  what  chiefly 
enhances  their  value,  and  gives  it  reality  and 
duration,  is  a  sweetness  of  temper  and  festivi- 
ty of  disposition,  that  never  fail  to  endear  them 
on  a  very  slight  acquaintance.  To  crown  all, 
they  generally  become  patterns  of  conjugal 
tenderness  and  fidelity. 

As  they  are  commonly  careful  to  improve 
their  minds  by  reading  and  instructive  con- 
versation, they  have  no  small  share  of  faceti- 
ousness  and  ingenuity.  From  their  innate 
liveliness,  they  are  extremely  addicted  to  all 
the  gay  kind  of  amusements.  They  excel 
in  the  allurements  of  dress  and  decoration, 
and  are  in  general  skilful  in  music. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  115 

The  character,  however,  of  the  women  in 
most  other  parts  of  Germany,  particularly  of 
the  Austrian,  is  very  different  from  this.  Not- 
withstanding the  advantages  of  size  and  make, 
their  looks  and  features,  though  not  unsight- 
ly, betray  a  vacancy  of  that  life  and  spirit, 
without  which  beauty  is  uninteresting,  and, 
like  a  mere  picture,  becomes  utterly  void  of 
that  indication  of  sensibility,  which  alone  can 
awaken  a  delicacy  of  feeling. 

As  their  education  is  conducted  by  the  rules 
of  the  grossest  superstition,  and  they  are 
taught  little  else  than  set  forms  of  devotion, 
they  arrive  to  the  years  of  maturity  unin- 
structed  in  the  use  of  reason,  and  usually 
continue  profoundly  ignorant  the  remainder 
of  their  days,  which  are  spent,  or  rather  loi- 
tered away,  in  apathy  and  indolence. 

Having  learned  none  of  the  ingenuous  me- 
thods of  making  time  sit  lightly,  their  hours 
of  leisure,  which  their  inactivity  swells  to  a 
large  amount,  are  heavy  and  oppressive  ;  and, 
from  their  want  of  almost  all  sort  of  know- 
ledge, the  subjects  of  their  discourse  are  poor 
and  insipid,  to  a  great  degree.  So  irksome, 
even  to  themselves,  is  that  kind  of  society 
which  consists  in  a  communication  of  thoughts, 
that  dress  and  diversion  are  the  onlv  refuge 
from  the  tediousness  which  hangs  over  the*  ge- 
neral tenour  of  their  lives.  But  whatever 
they  attempt  in  either,  shews  an  absence  of  all 
taste  and  elegance,  such  as  one  may  natural- 
ly expect  from  the  poverty  and  barrenness  of 
their  fancy.     In  these  two  articles,  indeed, 


Ii6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

they  are  obliged  to  borrow  from  abroad  all 
that  is  tolerable. 

The  principal  happiness  of  the  Austrian  la- 
dies of  fashion  consists  in  ruminating  on  the 
dignity  of  their  birth  and  families,  the  antiqui- 
ty of  their  race,  the  rank  they  hold,  the  re- 
spect attached  to  it,  and  the  prerogatives  they 
enjoy  over  the  inferior  classes,  whom  they 
treat  with  the  utmost  superciliousness,  and 
hold  in  the  most  unreasonable  contempt.  In 
the  mean  time,  their  domestic  affairs  are  con- 
demned to  the  most  unaccountable  neglect. 
They  dwell  at  home,  careless  of  what  passes 
there  ;  and  suffer  disorder  and  confusion  to 
prevail,  without  feeling  the  least  uneasiness. 
Great  frequenters  of  churches,  their  piety 
consists  in  the  strictest  conformity  to  all  the 
externals  of  religion.  They  profess  the  most 
boundless  belief  in  all  the  silly  legends  with 
which  their  treatises  of  devotion  are  filled ;  and 
these  are  the  only  books  they  ever  read.  The 
coldness  of  their  constitution  occasions  a  spe- 
cies of  regulated  gallantry,  which  is  rather 
the  effect  of  an  opinion  that  it  is  an  appendage 
of  high  life,  than  the  result  of  their  natural  in- 
clination. 

It  must  at  the  same  time  be  allowed,  that 
the  Austrian  women  are  endowed  with  a  great 
fund  of  sincerity  and  candour;  and,  though 
too  much  on  the  reserve,  and  prone  to  keep 
at  an  unnecessary  distance,  and  yet  capable  of 
the  truest  attachment,  and  always  warm  and 
zealous  in  the  cause  of  those  whom  thty  have 
have  admitted  to  their  friendship. 

Though  the  Germans  are  rather  a  dull  and 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  II? 

phlegmatic  people,  and  not  greatly  enslaved  by 
the  warmer  passions,  yet  at  the  court  of  Vien- 
na they  are  much  given  to  intrigue :  and  an 
amour  is  so  far  from  being  scandalous,  that  a 
woman  gains  credit  by  the  rank  of  her  gallant, 
and  is  reckoned  silly  and  unfashionable  if  she 
scrupulously  adheres  to  the  virtue  of  chastity. 
But  such  customs  are  more  the  customs  of 
courts,  than  of  places  less  exposed  to  tempta- 
tion, and  consequently  less  dissolute  ;  and  we 
are  well  assured  that  in  Germany  there  are 
many  women  who  do  honour  to  humanity,  not 
by  chastity  only,  but  also  by  a  variety  of  o- 
ther  virtues. 

The  ladies  at  the  principal  courts,  differ  not 
much  in  their  dress  from  the  French  and  En- 
glish. They  are  not,  however,  so  excessive- 
ly fond  of  paint  as  the  former.  At  some 
courts,  they  appear  in  rich  furs ;  and  all  of 
them  are  loaded  with  jewels,  if  they  can  obtain 
them.  The  female  part  of  the  burgher's  fa- 
milies, in  many  of  the  German  towns,  dress 
in  a  very  different  manner,  and  some  of  them 
inconceivably  fantastic,  as  may  be  seen  in  ma- 
ny prints  published  in  books  of  travels.  But, 
in  this  respect,  they  are  gradually  reforming, 
and  many  of  them  make  quite  a  different  ap- 
pearance in  their  dress  from  what  they  did 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 

The  inhabitants  of  Vienna  live  luxuriously, 
a  great  part  of  their  time  being  spent  in  feast- 
ing and  carousing.  In  winter,  when  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  the  Danube  are  frozen  o- 
ver,  and  the  ground  covered  with  snow*  the 
ladies  take  their  recreation  in  sledges  of  dif~ 
K  2 


iiS  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ferent  shapes,  such  as  griffins,  tygers,  swans, 
scajlop-shells,  &c.  Here  the  lady  sits,  dress- 
ed  in  velvet  lined  with  rich  furs  and  adorned 
with  laces  and  jewels,  having  on  her  head  a 
velvet  cap.  The  sledge  is  drawn  by  01  e 
horse,  stag  or  other  creature,  set  off  with 
plumes  of  feathers,  ribbands  and  bells.  As 
this  diversion  is  taken  chiefly  in  the  night  time, 
servants  ride  before  the  sledge  with  torches ; 
and  a  gentleman,  standing  on  the  sledge  be- 
hind, guides  the  horse. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Of  the  Comparative  Merit  of  the  two  Sexes. 

THE  difference  of  duties,  of  occupations, 
and  of  manners,  must  certainly  have  a  consi- 
derable influence  on  the  genius,  on  the  senti- 
ments, and  on  the  character  of  the  two  sexes. 

In  comparing  the  intellectual  powers  of 
men  and  women,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
between  the  philosophical  talent,  which  thinks 
and  discriminates  ;  the  talent  of  memory, 
which  collects  ;  the  talent  of  imagination, 
.vhich  creates  ;  the  moral  and  political  talent, 
which  governs.  It  is  also  necessary  to  in- 
quire to  what  degree  women  possess  these  four 
kinds  of  genius. 

The  philosophical  spirit  is  rare  indeed,  e- 
ven  among  men.  But  still  there  are  many 
great  men  who  have  possessed  it ;  who  have 
raised  themselves  to  the  height  of  nature,  to 
become  acquainted  with  her  works ;    who 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  119 

have  shewn  to  the  soul  the  source  of  its  ideas ; 
who  have  assigned  to  reason  its  bounds,  to 
motion  its  laws,  and  to  the  universe  its  har- 
mony ;  who  have  created  sciences  in  creat- 
ing principles  ;  and  who  have  aggrandized 
the  human  mind  in  cultivating  their  own.  If 
there  is  a  woman  found  on  a  level  with  these 
illustrious  men,  is  it  the  fault  of  education  or 
of  nature  ? 

Descartes,  abused  by  envious  men,  but  ad- 
mired by  two  generous  princesses,  boasted  of 
the  philosophical  talents  of  women.  We 
must  not,  however,  imagine  that  his  gratitude 
could  lead  him  into  a  voluntary  error,  even  in 
compliment  to  beauty.  He  would  no  doubt 
find  in  Elizabeth,  and  in  Christiana,  a  docility 
which  prided  itself  in  listening  to  so  great  a 
man,  and  which  seemed  to  associate  itself 
with  his  genius,  in  following  the  train  of  his  i- 
deas.  He  might  perhaps  even  find,  in  the 
compositions  of  women,  perspicuity,  order, 
and  method.  But  did  he  find  that  strong  dis- 
cernment, that  depth  of  intellect,  that  diffidence, 
which  characterises  the  real  philosopher  ? 
Did  he  find  that  cool  reason,  which,  always 
inquisitive,  advances  slowly,  and  re-measures 
all  its  steps  ? — Their  genius,  penetrating  and 
rapid,  flies  off,  and  is  at  rest.  They  have 
more  sallies  than  efforts.  What  they"  do  not 
see  at  once,  they  seldom  see  at  all  ;  they  ei- 
ther disdain  or  despair  to  comprehend  it. 
They  are  not  possessed  of  that  unremitting 
assiduity,  which  alone  can  pursue  and  disco- 
ver  important  truths. 


110  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Imagination  seems  rather  to  be  their  pro- 
vince. It  has  been  observed,  that  the  imagi- 
nation of  women  has  in  it  something  unac- 
countably  singular  and  extraordinary.  All 
things  strike  it ;  all  things  paint  themselves 
on  it,  in  a  lively  manner.  Their  volatile 
senses  embrace  every  object,  and  carry  off 
its  images.  Some  unknown  powers,  some 
secret  sympathies,  enable  them  rapidly  to 
seize  the  impressions.  The  material  world 
is  not  sufficient  for  them  ;  they  love  to  create 
an  ideal  world  of  their  own,  which  they  em* 
bellish,  and  in  which  they  dwell.  Spectres, 
enchantments,  prodigies,  and  whatever  trans- 
cends the  ordinary  laws  of  nature,  are  their 
creation  and  their  delight.  They  enjoy  even 
their  terrors.  Their  feelings  are  fine,  and 
iheif  fancy  always  approaches  to  enthusiasm. 

But  how  far,  it  may  be  asked,  can  the  im- 
agination of  females,  when  applied  to  the  arts, 
unfold  itself  in  the  talent  of  creating  and  de- 
scribing? Is  their  imagination  as  vigorous 
as  it  is  lively  and  versatile  ?  Does  it  not  un- 
avoidably partake  of  their  occupations,  of 
their  pleasures,  of  their  tastes,  and  even  of 
their  weaknesses  ?  Perhaps  their  delicate 
fibres  are  afraid  of  strong  sensations,  which 
fatigue  them,  and  make  them  seek  the  sweets 
"which  would  give  them  repose. 

Man,  always  active,  is  exposed  to  storms. 
The  imagination  of  the  poet  enjoys  itself  on 
the  ridge  of  mountains,  on  the  brink  of  vol- 
canos,  in  the  middle  of  ruins,  on  seas  and  in 
fields  of  battle;  and  it  is  never  more  suscep- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  121 

tible  of  tender  ideas,  than  after  having  expe- 
rienced some  great  emotion. 

But  women,  by  means  of  their  delicate 
and  sedentary  life,  less  acquainted  with  the 
contrast  of  the  gentle  and  the  terrible^  may 
be  supposed  to  feel  and  to  paint  less  perfectly, 
even  that  which  is  agreeable,  than  those  who 
are  thrown  into  contrary  situations,  and  pass 
rapidly  from  one  sensation  to  another. 

Perhaps  too,  from  the  habit  of  resigning 
themselves  to  the  impression  of  the  moment, 
which  with  them  is  very  strong,  their  minds 
must  be  more  replenished  with  images  than 
pictures.  Or  probably  their  imagination, 
though  lively,  resembles  a  mirror,  which  re- 
flects every  thing,  but  creates  nothing. 

Love  is,  without  dispute,  the  passion  which 
women  feel  the  strongest,  and  which  they  ex- 
press the  best.  They  feel  the  other  passions 
more  feebly,  and,  as  it  were,  by  chance.  But 
love  is  their  own ;  it  is  the  charm  and  the 
business  of  their  life  ;  it  is  their  soul.  They 
should  therefore  know  well  how  to  paint  it. 

But  do  they  know,  like  the  author  of  Othel- 
lo, of  Revenge ;  or  of  Zara,  to  express  the 
transports  of  a  troubled  soul,  which  joins 
fury  to  love  ;  which  is  sometimes  impetuous, 
and  sometimes  tender ;  which  now  is  softened, 
and  now  is  roused ;  which  sheds  blood,  and 
which  sacrifices  itself?  Can  they  paint  these 
doublings  of  the  human  heart,  these  storms 
of  emotion  and  passion  ? — No ;  nature  her- 
self restrains  them.  Love  in  the  one  sex  is 
a  conquest,  in  the  other  a  sacrifice. 


122  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

It  must,  therefore,  generally  happen  that 
the  women  of  all  countries,  and  in  all  ages 
know  better  how  to  paint  a  delicate  and  ten- 
der sentiment,  than  a  violent  and  turbulent 
passion. 

And,  besides,  by  their  duty,  by  the  reserve 
of  their  sex,  by  the  desire  of  a  certain  grace 
which  softens  all  their  expressions,  is  more 
bewitching  than  wit,  and  more  attractive  than 
beauty,  they  are  obliged  always  to  conceals 
part  of  their  sentiments.  Must  not  then 
these  sentiments,  by  being  continually  re* 
strained,  become  weaker  by  degrees,  and 
have  less  energy  than  those  of  men,  who  at 
all  times  bold  and  extravagant  with  impunity,, 
give  to  their  passions  what  tone  they  please, 
and  which  are  invigorated  by  exercise  ? 

A  temporary  constraint  inflames  the  pas* 
sions ;  but  a  continued  constraint  cools  or 
extinguishes  them. 

With  regard  to  the  talent  cf  order  and 
memory,  which  classes  facts,  and  ideas,  when 
necessary,  as  it  depends  a  good  deal  upon 
method  and  habit,  there  seems  little  reason 
why  the  two  sexes  may  not  possess  it  in  an 
equal  degree.  Rut  are  not  women  sooner 
disgusted  with  the  excess  of  labour,  which  is 
necessary  in  order  to  acquire  the  quantity  of 
materials  from  which  erudition  results  ?— 
Must  not  their  impatience  and  natural  desire 
of  change,  which  arise  from  fleeting  and  ra- 
pid impressions,  prevent  them  from  following, 
for  a  course  of  years,  the  same  kind  of  study, 
and  consequently  from  acquiring  profound  or 
extensive  knowledge  ?     Though  this  may  be 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  12$ 

the  case,  they  certainly  have  qualities  of 
mind  which  atone  for  it.  It  is  not  the  same 
hand  which  polishes  the  diamond,  and  which 
digs  the  mine. 

We  come  now  to  a  more  important  object, 
the  political  or  moral  abilities,  which  consist 
in  the  direction  of  ourselves  or  of  others. — 
In  order  to  weigh  upon  this  subject,  the  ad- 
vantages  or  disadvantages  peculiar  to  each 
sex,  4t  is  necessary  to  distinguish  between  the 
use  of  these  abilities  in  society,  and  their  use 
in  government. 

As  women  set  a  high  value  upon  opinion, 
they  must,  by  consequence,'  very  attentively 
consider  what  it  is  which  produces,  destroys 
or  confirms  it.  They  must  know  how  far  one 
may  direct,  without  appearing  to  be  interest- 
ed.; how  far  one  may  presume  upon  that  art, 
even  after  it  is  known ;  in  what  estimation 
they  are  held  by  those  with  whom  they  live ; 
and  to  what  degree  it  is  necessary  to  serve 
them,  that  they  may  govern  them. 

In  all  matters  of  business,  women  know 
the  great  effects  which  are  produced  by  little 
causes.  They  have  the  art  of  imposing  upon 
some,  by  seeming  to  discover  to  them  what 
they  already  know;  and  of  diverting  others 
from  their  purpose,  by  confirming  their  most 
distant  suspicions.  They  know  how  to  cap- 
tivate by  praises  those  who  merit  them;  and 
to  raise  a  blush,  by  bestowing  them  where 
they  are  not  due. 

These  delicate  sciences  are  the  leading- 
strings  in  which  the  women  conduct  the  men. 
Society   to  them  is  like   a  harpsichord,  of 


ia4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  C? 

h  they  know  the  touches  ;  and  they  can 
guess  at  the  sound  which  every  touch  will 
produce.  But  man,  impetuous  and  free,  sup- 
plying the  want  of  address  by  strei  gth,  and 
consequently  being  less  interested  to  observe, 
ied  away,  besides,  by  the  necessity  of 
continual  action — can  scarcely  be  possessed 
of  all  those  litrle  notices,  and  polite  attentions, 
which  are  every  moment  necessary  in  the 
commerce  of  life.  Their  calculations,  there- 
fore, on  society,  must  be  more  slow,  and  less 
sure,  than  those  of  women. 

Let  us  now  take  a  view  of  that  species  of 
understanding',  in*  the  two  sexes,  which  is  ap- 
plicable to  government. 

In  society,  women  govern  men  by  their 
passions,  and  the  smallest  motives  often  pro- 
duce the  greatest  consequences.  But,  in  the 
government  of  states,  it  is  by  comprehensive 
views,  by  the  choice  cf  principles,  and,  above 
all,  by  the  discovery  and  the  employment  of 
talents,  that  success  can  be  obtained.  Here, 
instead  of  taking  advantage  of  foibles,  they 
must  fear  them.  They  must  raise  men  above 
their  weaknesses,  and  not  lead  them  into 
them. 

In  society,  therefore,  the  art  of  governing 
may  be  said  to  consist  in  flattering  characters 
with  address ;  and  the  art  of  administration, 
in  combating  them  with  judgment.  The 
knowledge  of  mankind  required  in  the  two 
cases  is  very  different.  In  the  one,  they  must 
be  known  by  their  weakness;  in  the  other, 
by  their  strength.  The  one  draws  forth  de- 
fects for  little  ends;  the  other  discovers  great 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  12S 

qualities,  which  are  mingled  with  those  very 
faults.  The  one,  in  short,  seeks  little  blem- 
ishes in  great  men  ;  and  the  other,  in  dissect- 
ing great  men,  must  often  perceive  the  same 
spots;  for  perfect  characters  exist  only  in 
Utopia. 

Let  us  now  inquire  whether  this  species  of 
understanding  and  observation  belongs  equal- 
ly to  the  two  sexes. 

There  are  women  who  have  reigned,  and 
who  still  reign  with  lustre.  Christiana  in 
Sweden,  Isabella  of  Castile  in  Spain,  and 
Elizabeth  in  England,  have  merited  the  es- 
teem of  their  age  and  posterity. 

We  saw,  in  the  war  of  1741,  a  princess, 
whom  even  her  enemies  admired,  defend  the 
German  empire  with  no  less  genius  than 
courage,  and  we  lately  beheld  the  Ottoman 
empire  shaken  by  a  woman.  But  in  general 
questions,  we  should  beware  of  taking  ex- 
ceptions for  rules,  and  observe  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature. 

It  therefore  becomes  necessary  to  enquire, 
whether  women,  who,  according  to  the  mode 
of  society,  neither  are,  nor  have  in  their 
power  to  be,  so  often  in  action  as  men,  can  so 
well  judge  of  talents,  their  use,  or  their  ex- 
tent ;  whether  great  views,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  great  principles,  with  the  habit  of 
perceiving  consequences  with  the  glance  of 
an  eye,  are  compatible  with  their  wandering 
imagination,  and  with  minds  so  little  accus- 
tomed to  the  arrangement  of  their  ideas.  All 
this  is  necessary  to  form  the  character  which 
M 


126  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

governs.  It  is  the  vigour  of  the  soul 
which  gives  activity  to  genius,  which  ex- 
tends and  which  strengthens  political  ideas. 
This  character,  however,  can  hardly  be 
formed  but  by  great  commotions,  great  hopes, 
and  great  fears,  as  also  the  necessity  of  being 
continually  engaged  in  action. 

Is  it  not  in  general,  the  character  of  wo- 
men, that  their  minds  are  more  pleasing  than 
strong?  Does  not  their  rapid  imagination, 
which  often  makes  sentiment  precede  thought, 
render  them,  in  the  choice  of  men,  more  sus- 
ceptible both  to  prejudice,  and  of  error? 
.  Would  not  one  be  in  danger  of  abuse,  would 
not  one  even  run  the  risk  of  their  displeasure, 
if  he  should  say  that,  in  the  distribution  of 
their  esteem,  they  would  set  too  high  a  value 
upon  external  accomplishments;  and,  in 
short,  they  would  perhaps  be  too  easily  led  to 
believe  that  an  agreeable  man  was  a  great 
Kian? 

Elizabeth  was  not  free  from  this  censure. 
The  inclinations  of  her  sex  stole  beneath  the 
cares  of  the  throne,  and  the  greatness  of  her 
character.  We  are  chagrined,  at  certain 
times,  to  see  the  little  weaknesses  of  a  woman 
mingle  with  the  views  of  a  great  mind. 

This  taste  for  coquetry,  as  is  well  known, 
furnished  Elizabeth  with  favourites,  in  the  : 
choice  of  which  she  judged  more  like  a  wo- 
man than  like  a  sovereign.  She  was  always 
too  ready  to  believe,  that  the  pow7er  of  pleas- 
ing her,  implied  genius. 

That  so  much  celebrated  queen  exercised 
over  England  an  almost  arbitrary  sway ;  at 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  M7 

which,  perhaps,  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised. 
Women,  in  general,  on  the  throne,  are  more 
inclined  to  despotism,  and  more  impatient  of 
restraint,  than  men.  The  sex  to  whom  na- 
ture has  assigned  power,  by  giving  them 
strength,  have  a  certain  confidence  which 
raises  them  in  their  own  eyes ;  so  that  they 
have  no  need  of  manifesting  to  themselves 
that  superiority  of  which  they  are  sure.  But 
weakness,  astonished  at  the  sway  which  she 
possesses,  shakes  her  sceptre  on  every  side, 
to  establish  her  dominion. 

Great  men  are  perhaps  more  carried  to  that 
species  of  despotism  which  arises  from  lofty 
ideas ;  and  women,  above  the  ordinary  class, 
to  the  despotism  which  proceeds  from  pas- 
sion. The  last  is  rather  a  sally  of  the  heart, 
than  the  effect  of  system* 

One  thing  which  favours  the  despotism  of 
female  sovereigns  is,  that  the  men  confound 
the  empire  of  their  sex  with  that  of  their 
rank.  What  we  refuse  to  grandeur,  we  pay 
to  beauty.  But  the  dominion  of  women, 
even  when  arbitrary,  is  seldom  cruel.  Theirs 
is  rather  a  despotism  of  caprice,  than  of  op- 
pression. The  throne  itself  cannot  cure  their 
sensibility.  They  carry  in  their  bosoms  the 
counterpoise  of  their  power. 

Hence  it  follows,  that  in  limited  monarchies, 
female  sovereigns  will  tend  to  despotism  from 
their  jealousy  ;  and  in  absolute  government, 
will  approach  to  monarchy  by  their  mildness 
This  observation  is  proved  by  experience. 


J2S  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

On  the  Religions  and  Domestic  Virtues  of 
Women. 

BOTH  experience  and  history  attest,  that 
in  all  sects,  in  all  countries,  and  in  all  ranks, 
the  women  have  more  religious  virtues  than 
the  men.  Naturally  possessed  of  more  sen- 
sibility, they  have  more  occasion  for  an  ob- 
ject which  may  constantly  occupy  their 
minds.  Desirous  cf  happiness,  and  not  find- 
ing enough  in  this  world,  they  launch  into  a 
life  and  a  world  abounding  with  ineffable  de- 
lights. More  flexible  in  their  duties  than 
men,  they  reason  less,  and  feel  more.  More 
subjected  to  good  opinion,  they  pay  more  at- 
tention to  what  concerns  themselves.  Less 
occupied,  and  less  active,  they  have  more  time 
for  contemplation.  Less  abstracted  or  absent, 
they  are  more  strongly  affected  by  the  same 
idea,  because  it  appears  before  them  continu- 
ally. More  struck  by  external  objects,  they 
relish  more  the  pageantry  of  ceremonies  and 
of  temples,  and  the  devotion  of  the  senses 
has  no  inconsiderable  effect  on  that  of  the 
soul. 

The  domestic  virtues  are  intimately  con- 
nected with  those  of  religion;  they  are  doubt- 
less common  to  both  sexes.  The  advantage, 
however,  seems  still  to  be  in  favour  of  the 
women.  At  least  they  have  more  need  of 
virtues  which  they  have  more  occasion  to 
practice. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  129 

In  the  first  period  of  life,  timid,  and  with- 
out support,  the  daughter  is  more  attached  to 
her  mother.  By  seldom  leaving  her,  she 
comes  to  love  her  more.  The  trembling  inno- 
cent is  cheered  by  the  presence  of  her  pro 
tectress;  and  her  weakness,  while  it  heigh- 
tens her  beauty,  augments  her  sensibility. — 
After  becoming  a  mother  herself,  she  has 
other  duties,  which  every  thing  invites  her  to 
fulfil.  Then  the  condition  of  the  two  sexes 
is  widely  different. 

Man,  in  the  middle  of  his  labours,  and 
among  his  arts,  employing  his  powers,  and 
commanding  nature,  finds  pleasure  in  his  in- 
dustry, in  his  success,  and  even  in  his  toils. 
But  woman,  being  more  solitary,  and  less 
active,  has  fewer  resources.  Her  pleasure 
must  arise  from  her  virtues;  her  amuse- 
ments are  her  children.  It  is  near  the  cradle 
of  her  infant ;  it  is  in  viewing  the  smiles  of  her 
daughter,  or  the  sports  of  her  son,  that  a 
mother  is  happy. 

Where  are  the  tender  feelings,  the  cries, 
the'  powerful  emotions  of  nature  ?  Where  is 
the  sentiment,  at  once  sublime  and  pathetic, 
that  carries  every  feeling  to  excess?  Is  it  to 
be  found  in  the  frosty  indifference,  and  the 
rigid  severity  of  so  many  fathers  ?  *  No ;  it 
is  in  the  warm  impassioned  bosom  of  a  mo- 
ther. It  is  she  who,  by  an  impulse  as  quick 
as  involuntary,  rushes  into  the  flood  to  snatch 
her  child,  whose  imprudence  had  betrayed 
him  to  the  waves  t  It  is  she  who  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  confl -ignition,  throws  herself  across- 
the  flumes  to  save  her  sleeping  infant* 


ijo  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

These  great  expressions  of  nature,  these 
heart  rending  emotions,  which  fill  us  at  once 
with  wonder,  compassion  and  terror,  always 
have  belonged,  and  always  will  belong  only 
to  women.  They  possess,  in  those  moments, 
an  inexpressible  something,  which  carries 
them  beyond  themselves.  They  seem  to 
discover  to  us  new  souls,  above  the  standard 

of  humanitv. 

</ 

If  we  consider  also  the  matrimonial  duties, 
the  obligations  of  husband  and  wife,  which 
of  the  sexes  is  most  likely  to  be  faithful  ? — 
Which,  in  violating  them,  has  most  obstacles 
to  encounter  ?  Is  not  woman  best  defended 
by  her  education,  by  her  reserve,  and  by 
that  modesty  which  silences  even  her  desires  ? 
To  these  restraints  we  may  add  the  power  of 
the  first  passion,  and  the  first  ties,  over  a 
heart  endowed  with  sensibility. 

Nature,  herself,  attentive  in  this  instance'  to 
trie  manners  of  women,  has  taken  care  to 
surround  them  with  the  strongest,  yet  the 
gentlest  barriers.  She  has  made  inconstancy 
more  painful,  and  fidelity  more  pleasing  to 
their  hearts.  Even  in  ages  of  general  cor- 
ruption, conjugal  infidelity  in  women  has 
been  one  of  the  last  of  crimes. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  t$t 

CHAPTER  XXXIL 

On  Female  Friendship. 

IT  has  long  been  a  question,  Which  of  the 
two  sexes  is  most  capable  of  friendship  ? 
Montagne,  who  is  so  much  celebrated  for  his 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  has  given  it  pos- 
itively against  the  women  ;  and  his  opinion 
has  been  generally  embraced. 

Friendship  perhaps,  in  women,  is  more 
rare  than  among  men  ;  but,,  at  the  same  time, 
it  must  be  allowed  that  where  it  is  found,  it  is 
more  tender. 

Men,  in  general,  have  more  of  the  parade 
than  the  graces  of  friendship.  They  often 
wound  while  they  serve  ;  and  their  warmest 
sentiments  are  not  very  enlightened,  with  re- 
spect to  those  minute  sentiments  which  are 
of  so  much  value.  But  women  have  a  refined 
sensibility,  which  makes  them  see  every  thing ; 
nothing  escapes  them.  They  divine  the  si- 
lent friendship  ;  they  encourage  the  bashful 
or  timid  friendship  ;  they  oiler  their  sweetest 
consolations  to  friendship  in  distress.  Fur- 
nished with  finer  instruments,  they  treat  more 
delicately  a  wounded  heart.  They  compose 
it,  and  prevent  it  from  feeling  its  agonies. 
They  know,  above  all  how  to  give  value  to 
a  thousand  things,  which  have  no  value  in 
themselves. 

We  ought  therefore,  perhaps,  to  desire  the 
friendship  of  a  man  upon  great  occasiuns  ; 
but,  for  general  happiness,  we  must  prefer1 
$he  friendship  of  a  woman. 


»$2  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

With  regard  to  female  intimacies,  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  there  is  no  young  wo- 
man who  has  not,  or  wishes  not  to  have,  a 
companion  of  h<  r  own  sex,  to  whom  she  may 
unbosom  herself  on  every  occasion.  That 
there  are  women  capable  of  friendship  with 
women,  few  impartial  observers  will  deny. 
There  have  been  many  evident  proofs  of  it, 
and  those  carried  as  far  as  seemed  compatible 
with  the  imperfections  of  our  common  nature. 
It  is,  however,  questioned  by  some;  white 
others  believe  that  it  happens  exceedingly  sel- 
dom. Between  married  and  u rimarried  wo- 
men, it  no  doubt  happens  xtry  often  ;  whe- 
ther it  does  so  between  those  that  are  single, 
is  not  so  certain.  Young  men  appear  more 
frequently  susceptible  of  a  generous  and 
steady  friendship  for  cadi  other^  than  females 
as  yet  unconnected  ;  especially,  #' the  latter 
ha\  e,  or  are  supposed  to  have,  pretensions  to 
beauty,  not  adjusted  by  the  public. 

In  the  frame  and  condition  of  females,  how- 
ever, compared  with  those  of  the  other  sex, 
there  are  some  circumstances  which  may  help 
towards  an  apology  for  this  unfavourable  fea- 
ture in  their  character. 

The  state  of  matrimony  is  necessary  to  the 
support,  order,  and  comfort  of  society.  But 
it  is  a  state  that  subjects  the  women  to  a  great 
variety  of  solicitude  and  pain.  Nothing  could 
carry  them  through  it  with  any  tolerable  sa- 
tisfaction of  spirit,  but  very  strong  and  almost 
unconquerable  attachments.  To  produce 
these,  is  it  not  fit  they  should  be  peculiarly 
sensible  to  the  attention  and  regards  of  the 


THE  FAIR  SEX  133 

men  ?  Upon  the  same  ground,  does  it  not 
seem  agreeable  to  the  purposes  of  Providence, 
that  the  securing  of  this  attention,  and  these 
regards,  should  be  a  principal  aim  ?  But 
can  such  an  aim  be  pursued  without  frequent 
competition  ?  And  will  not  that  too  rea- 
dily occasion  jealousy,  envy,  and  all  the  una- 
miable  effects  of  mutual  rivalship  ?  Without 
the  restraints  of  superior  worth  and  'sentiment,, 
it  certainly  will.  But  can  these  be  ordinarily 
expected  from  the  prevailing  turn  of  female 
education  ;  or  from  the  little  pains  that  wo- 
men, as  well  as  other  human  beings,  com- 
monly take  to  controul  themselves,  and  to  act 
nobly  ?  In  this  last  respect,  the  sexes  appear 
pretty  much  on  the  same  footing. 

This  reasoning  is  not  meant  to  justify  the 
indulgence  of  those  little  and  sometimes  base 
passions  towards  one  another,  with  which  fe- 
males have  been  so  generally  charged.  It  is 
only  intended  to  represent  such  passions  in  the 
first  approach  ;  and,  while  not  entertained,  as 
less  criminal  than  the  men  are  apt  to  state 
them  ;  and  to  prove  that,  in  their  attachments 
to  each  other,  the  latter  have  not  always  that 
merit  above  the  women,  which  they  are  apt  to 
claim.  In  the  mean  time,  let  it  be  the  busi- 
ness of  the  ladies,  by  emulating  the  gentle- 
men, where  they  appeir  good  patured  and 
disinterested,  to  disprove  their  imputation,  and 
to  shew  a  temper  open  to  friendship  as  well  as 
to  love. 

To  talk  much  of  the  latter  is  natural  for 
both  ;  to  talk  much  of  the  former,  is  consi- 
dered by  the  men  as  one  way  of  doing  them- 


3  34  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

selves  honour.  Friendship,  they  well  know, 
is  that  dignified  form,  which,  in  speculation 
at  least,  every  heart  must  respect. 

But  in  friendship,  as  in  religion,  which  on 
many  accounts  it  resembles,  speculation  is  of- 
ten substituted  in  the  place  of  practice.  Peo- 
ple fancy  themselves  possessed  of  the  thing, 
and  hope  that  others  will  fancy  so  too,  be- 
cause they  are  fond  of  the  name,  and  have 
learnt  to  talk  about  it  with  plausibility.  Such 
talk  indeed  imposes,  till  experience  gives  it 
die  lie. 

To  say  the  truth,  there  seems  in  either  sex 
but  little  of  what  a  fond  imagination,  unac-  > 
quainted  with  the  falsehood  of  the  world,  and 
warmed  by  affections  which  its  selfishness  has 
not  yet  chilled,would  reckon  friendship.  In  the- 
ory, the  standard  is  raised  too  high  ;  wTe  ought 
not,  however,  to  wish  it  much  lower.  The 
honest  sensibilities  of  ingenuous  nature  should 
not  be  checked  by  the  over-cautious  docu- 
ments of  political  prudence.  No  advantage, 
obtained  by  such  frigidity,  can  compensate 
for  the  want  of  those  warm  effusions  of  the 
heart  into  the  bosom  of  a  friend,  which  are 
doubtless  among  the  most  exquisite  pleasures. 
At  the  same  time,  however,  it  must  be  own- 
ed, that  they  often  by  the  inevitable  lot  of  hu- 
manity, make  way  for  the  bitterest  pains 
which  the  breast  can  experience.  Happy  be- 
yond the  common  condition  of  her  sex,  is  she 
who  has  found  a  friend  indeed  ;  open  hearted, 
yet  discreet ;  generously  fervent,  yet  steady  ; 
thoroughly  virtuous,  but  not  severe  ;  wise,  as 
well  as  cheerful  !     Can  such  a  friend  be  Ioy- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  13s 

od  too  much,  or  cherished  too  tenderly  f  If 
to  excellence  and  happiness  there  be  any  one 
way  more  compendious  than  another,  next 
to  friendship  with  the  Supreme  Being,  it  is 
this. 

But  when  a  mixture  of  minds  so  beautiful 
and  so  sweet  takes  place,  it  is  generally,  or 
rather  always  the  result  of  early  prepossession, 
casual  intercourse,  or  in  short,  a  combination, 
of  such  causes  as  are  not  to  be  brought  toge- 
ther by  management  or  design.  This  noble 
plant  may  be  cultivated  ;  but  it  must  grow 
spontaneously. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

On  Female  Benevolence. 

NATURE  is  equally  indulgent  to  every 
rank  in  life.  As,  in  her  vegetable  kingdom, 
she  has  kindly  made  the  sweetest  of  flowers 
the  most  common  ;  so,  in  the  moral  world, 
she  has  placed  the  lovely  virtue  which  con- 
duces most  to  human  happiness,  equally  with- 
in the  reach  and  cultivation  of  the  rich  and 
the  poor. 

Benevolence  may  be  considered  as  the 
rose  which  is  found  as  beautiful  and  as  fra- 
grant in  the  narrow  border  of  the  cottager,  as 
in  the  ample  and  magnificent  garden  of  the 
noble. 

Charity  is  a  theme  on  which  the  sublimest 
spirits  have  often  and  ably  discoursed.  Many 


i36  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

admirable  things  have  been  written  on  this 
lovely  president  of  the  angelic  ■- irtues. 

Thatgenerows.coi   ;  hich  interests 

the  heart  in  the  misfottune  of  others,  is  more 
particularly  the  portion   of  \  Every 

thing  inclines  them  t  rosity  and  piety. 

Their  delicate  sei  ses  revolt  at  the  presence 
of  distress  and  pain.  Objects  of  misery  and 
aversion  discompose  the  soft  indolence  of 
tbeir  minds.  Their  houls  are  more  hurt  by 
images  of  sorrow    i  spleen,  than  torment- 

ed by  their  own  sensil  y^  they  must  there- 
fore  be  very  anxious  to  afford  relief.  They 
possess,  besides,  in  a  I righ  degree,  that  in- 
stinctive feeling,  which  operates  without  rea- 
soning ;  and  they  often  relieve,  while  men  de- 
liberate.  Their  benevolence  is  perhaps  less 
rational,  but  it  is  more  active  ;  it  is  also  more 
attentive,  and  more  tender.  What  woman 
has  ever  been  wanting  in  commiseration  to 
th^  unfortunate  ? 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

On  Female  Patriotism* 

WE  shall  now  examine  whether  women,  so 
susceptible  of  friendship,ofpity,of  benevolence 
to  individuals,  can  elevate  themselves  to  that 
patriotism,  or  disinterested  love  of  one's  coun- 
try, which  embraces  all  its  citizens  ;  and  to 
that  philanthropy,  or  universal  love  of  man- 
kind,  which  embraces  all  nations, 
t 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  Itf 

Patriotism  surely  ought  not  to  be  depreciat- 
ed. It  is  the  noblest  sentiment  of  the  hu- 
man mind ;  at  least  it  is  that  which  has  pro- 
duced the  greatest  men,  and  which  gave  birth 
to  those  ancient  heroes,  whose  history  still  a- 
stonishes  our  imagination,  and  accuses  our 
weakness.  Patriotism,  no  doubt,  is  most 
commonly  produced  by  the  ideas  of  interest 
and  property,  by  the  remembrance  of  past 
services,  by  the  hope  of  future  honours  or  re- 
wards, and  a  certain  enthusiasm  which  robs 
men  of  themselves  ;  to  transform  their  exis- 
tence entirely  into  the  body  of  the  state. 

These  sentiments,  it  will  readily  be  per- 
ceived, do  not  correspond  with  the  condition 
of  women.  In  almost  all  governments  ex- 
cluded from  honours  and  from  offices,  pos- 
sessed of  little  property,  and  restrained  by  the 
laws  even  in  what  they  have,  they  cannot  in 
general  be  supposed  to  be  eminent  for  patri- 
otism. Existing  more  in  themselves,  and  in 
the  objects  of  their  sensibility,  and  perhaps 
less  fitted  than  men  by  nature  for  the  civil  in- 
stitutions in  which  they  have  less  share,  they 
must  be  less  susceptible  of  that  enthusiasm, 
which  makes  a  man  prefer  the  state  to  his  fa- 
mily, and  the  collective  body  of  his  fellow  ci- 
tizens to  himself. 

The  example  of  the  Roman  and  Spartan 
ladies,  and  the  wonders  performed  by  the 
Dutch  women  in  the  revolution  of  the  Seven 
Provinces,  clearly  prove  that  the  glorious  en- 
thusiasm of  liberty  can  do  all  things ;  that 
there  are  times  when  nature  is  astonished  at 
N 


•I$S  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OT 

herself;  and  that  great  virtues  spring  from 
great  calamities. 

That  universal  love  of  mankind  which  ex- 
tends to  all  nations  and  to  all  ages,  and  which 
is  a  kind  of  abstract  sentiment,  seems  to  cor- 
respond still  less  with  the  character  of  femalei 
than  patriotism.  They  must  have  an  image 
of  what  they  love. 

It  is  only  by  the  power  of  arranging  his 
ideas,  that  the  philosopher  is  able  to  overleap 
so  many  barriers ;  to  pass  from  a  man  to  a 
people;  from  a  people  to  human  kind ;  from 
the  time  in  which  he  lives,  to  ages  yet  unborn ; 
and  from  what  he  sees,  to  what  he  does  not 
see. 

The  tender  sex  do  not  love  to  send  their 
souls  so  far  a-wandering.  They  assemble 
their  sentiments  and  their  ideas  about  them, 
and  confine  their  affections  to  what  interests 
them  most.  Those  strides  of  benevolence, 
to  women,  are  out  of  nature.  A  man  to 
them  is  more  than  a  nation ;  and  the  hour  in 
whidi  they  live,  than  a  thousand  ages  after 
death* 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  15* 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Of  Women  with  regard  to  Polished  Life* 

THERE  are  certain  qualities  which  have 
generally  been  ranked  among  the  social  vir- 
tues, but  which  may  more  properly  be  called 
the  virtues  of  polished  life.  They  are  the 
charm  and  the  bond  of  company  ;  and  are 
useful  at  all  times,  and  upon  all  occasions.— 
They  are,  in  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
what  current  money  is  in  trade.  They  are 
sometimes  not  absolutely  necessary,  but  one 
can  never  safely  be  without  them.  They  al- 
ways procure  the  possessor  a  more  favoura- 
ble reception. 

Such  is  that  mild  complacency  which  gives 
a  softness  to  the  character,  and  an  attractive 
sweetness  to  the  manners  ;  that  indulgence 
which  pardons  the  faults  of  others,  even 
when  it  has  no  need  of  pardon  itself;  the  art 
of  being  blind  to  the  visible  foibles  of  others, 
and  of  keeping  the  secret  of  those  which  are 
hidden ;  the  art  of  concealing  our  advanta- 
ges, when  we  humble  our  rivals  or  opponents, 
and  of  dealing  gently  with  those  who  cannot 
submit  without  being  offended.  Such  is  that 
facility  which  adopts  opinions  it  never  had  ; 
that  freedom  which  inspires  confidence ;  and 
all  that  politeness,  in  short,  which  is  so  very 
pleasing,  though  sometimes  no  more  than  a 
happy  lie. 

Politeness  is  a  part  of  the  female  character. 
It  is  connected  with  their  minds,  with  their 


ft*  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

manners,  and  even  with  their  interest.  To 
the  most  virtuous  woman  society  is  a  field  of 
conquest. 

Few  men  have  formed  the  project  of  mak- 
ing every  body  happy,  and  so  much  the 
worse  for  those  who  have.  But  many  wo- 
men have  not  only  formed  such  a  scheme,  but 
have  succeeded  in  it. 

We  are,  in  general,  so  much  the  more  po- 
lite, as  we  are  less  devoted  to  ourselves,  and 
more  to  others ;  as  we  are  more  attentive  to 
opinion ;  as  we  are  more  zealous  to  be  dis- 
tinguished ;  and,  perhaps,  in  proportion  as 
we  have  fewer  resources,  and  greater  means 
of  having  them.  In  start,  whether  we  speak 
of  individuals  or  cf  nations,  of  the  two  sexes 
or  the  different  ranks,  when  we  say  they  arc 
polite,  we  always  suppose  them  to  be  idle, 
because  we  admit  the  necessity  of  their  liv- 
ing together. 

Hence  the  art  of  regulating  our  behaviour, 
of  adjusting  our  looks,  our  words,  and  our 
motions,  the  need  of  attentions,  and  all  the 
little  gratifications  of  vanity. 

We  are  naturally  inclined  to  pay  that  ho- 
mage which  we  receive,  and  to  exact  that 
which  we  pay.  Thus  the  delicacy  of  self 
love  produces  all  the  refinements  in  society ; 
as  the  delicacy  of  the  senses  produces  all  the 
refinements  in  pleasure ;  and  as  the  delicacy 
of  taste,  which  is  perhaps  only  the  result  of 
the  other  two,  products  all  the  refinements  in 
literature,  arts  and  sciences. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  141 

It  will  be  easy  to  discern  hew  these  objects 
are  connected  with  one  another,  and  how  they 
all  relate  to  women. 

But  refined  politeness,  it  may  be  said,  is 
allied  to  falsehood.  It  substitutes  the  expres- 
sion of  sentiment  too  often  for  sentiment  it- 
self. 

Flattery  is  common  to  both  sexes.  But 
the  flattery  of  men  is  often  very  disgusting ; 
that  of  women  is  more  light,  and  has  more 
the  appearance  of  sentiment.  Even  when  it 
is  overdone^  it  is  generally  amusing.  The 
motive  and  the  manner  save  them  from  con- 
tempt. 

Men  generally  owe  their  frankness  to  pride; 
women  to  address.  The  one  sex  often  utters 
a  truth,  without  any  other  view  than  truth, it- 
self. In  the  mouth  of  the  other,  even  truth 
itself  has  an  aim. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

On  the  Idea  of  Female  Inferiority. 

IT  is  an  opinion  pretty  generally  establish- 
ed, that  in  strength  of  mind,  as  "well  as  of 
body,  men  are  greatly  superior  to  women. — 
Let  us,  however,  duly  consider  the  several 
propensities  and  paths  chalked  cut  to  each  by 
ihe  author  of  their  nature, 

Men  are  endowed  with  boldness  and  cou- 
rage ;  women  are  not..     The  reason  is  plain  : 
these  are  beauties  in  our  character;   in  theirs 
they  would  be  blemishes.     Our  genius  often 
N  a 


142  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

leads  to  the  great  and  the  arduous ;  theirs  to  the 
soft  and  the  pleasing ;  we  bend  our  thoughts 
to  make  life  convenient;  they  turn  theirs  to 
make  it  easy  and  agreeable.  If  the  endow- 
ments  allotted  to  us  by  nature  could  not  be 
easily  acquired  by  women,  it  would  be  as 
difficult  for  us  to  acquire  those  peculiarly  al- 
lotted to  them.  Are  we  superior  to  them  in 
what  belongs  to  the  male  character?  They 
are  no  less  so  to  us,  id  what  belongs  to  the 
female  character. 

Would  it  not  appear  rather  ludicrous  to 
say,  that  a  man  was  endowed  only  with  infe- 
rior abilities,  because  he  was  not  expert  in 
the  nursing  of  children,   and  practising  the 
various  effeminacies  which  we  reckon  lovely 
in   a  woman  ?     Would  it  be  reasonable  to 
condemn  him  on   these  accounts?     Just  as 
reasonable  it  is  to  reckon  women  inferior  to 
men,  because  their  talents  are  in  general  not 
adapted  to  tread  the  horrid  path  of  war,  nor 
to  trace  the  mazes  and  intricacies  of  science. 
The  idea  of  the  inferiority  of  female  na- 
ture,  has  drawn  after  it  several  others  the 
most  absurd,  unreasonable  and  humiliating 
to  the  sex.   Such  is  the  pride  of  man,  that  in 
some  countries  he  has  considered  immortality 
as  a  distinction  too  glorious  for  women. — 
Thus  degrading  the  fair  partners  of  his  na- 
ture, he  places  them  on  a  level  with  the  beasts 
that  perish. 

As  the  Asiatics  have,  time  immemorial, 
considered  women  as  little  better  than  slaves, 
this  opinion  probably  originated  among  them. 
The  Mahometans,  both  in  Asia  and  Europe, 


THE  FAIR  SEX,  143 

are  said,  by  a  great  variety  of  writers,  to  en- 
tertain  this  opinion. 

Lady  Montague,  in  her  letters,  has  oppos- 
ed this  general  assertion  of  the  writers  con- 
cerning the  Mahometans  ;  and  says  that  they 
do  not  absolutely  deny  the  existence  of  female 
souls,  but  only  hold  them  to  be  of  a  nature 
inferior  to  those  of  men  ;  and  that  they  ( nter 
not  into  the  same,  but  into  an  inferior  para- 
dise,  prepared  for  them  on  purpose.  Lady 
Montague,  and  the  writers  whom  she  has 
contradicted,  may  perhaps  be  both  right. — 
vThe  former  might  be  the  opinion  which  the 
Turks  brought  with  them  from  Asia ;  and 
the  latter,  as  a  refinement  upon  it,  they  may 
have  adopted  by  their  intercourse  with  the 
Europeans. 

This  opinion,  however,  has  had  but  a  few 
votaries  in  Europe  ;  though  some  have  even 
here  maintained  it,  and  assigned  various  rea- 
sons for  so  doing.  Among  these,  the  follow- 
ing laughable  reason  is  not  the  least  particu- 
lar— "  In  the  Revelations  of  St.  John  the 
divine,"  said  one,  whose  wife  was  a  descen- 
dant of  the  famous  Xantippe,*  "  you  will 
find  this  passage  :  And  there  ivas  silence  hi 
heaven  for  about  the  space  of  half  an  hour. 
Now  I  appeal  to  anyone,  whether  that  could 
possibly  have  happened,  had  there  been  any 
women  there?  And,  since  there  are  none 
there,  charity  forbids  us  to  imagine  that  they  are 
all  in  a  worse  place ;  therefore  it  follows  that 
they  have  no  immortal  part:  and  happy  is  it 

*  Xantippe,  was  the  wife  of  SosraieSj  and  the 
•nost  famous  scold  of  antiquity. 


144  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

for  them,  as  they  are  thereby  exempted  from 
being  accountable  for  all  the  noise  and  distur- 
bance they  have  raised  in  this  world." 

In  a  very  ancient  treatise,  called  the  Wis- 
dom of  isll  Times,  ascribed  to  Hushang,  one 
of  the  earliest  kings  of  Persia,  are  the  follow- 
ing remaikable  words:  "The  passions  of 
men  may,  by  long  acquaintance,  be  thorough- 
ly known  ;  but  the  passions  of  women  are  in- 
scrutable :  therefore  they  ought  to  be  sepa- 
rated from  men,  lest  the  mutability  of  their 
tempers  should  infect  others." 

Ideas  of  a  similar  nature  seem  to  have  been, 
at  this  time  generally  diffused  over  the  east. 
For  we  find  Solomon,  almost  every  where  in 
his  writings,  exclaiming  against  women  ;  and, 
in  the  Apocrypha,  the  author  of  Ecclesiasticus 
is  still  more  illiberal  in  his  reflections. 

Both  these  authors,  it  is  true,  join  in  the  most 
enraptured  manner  to  praise  a  virtuous  woman ; 
but  take  care  at  the  same  time  to  let  us  know, 
that  she  is  so  great  a  rarity  as  to  be  very  sel- 
dom met  with. 

Nor  have  the  Asiatics  alone  been  addicted 
to  this  illiberality  of  thinking  concerning  the 
sex.  Satirists  of  all  ages  and  countries,  while 
they  flattered  them  to  their  faces,  have  from 
their  closets  most  profusely  scattered  their 
spleen  and  ill-nature  against  them.  Of  this 
the  Greek  and  Roman  poets  afford  a  vari- 
ety of  instances;  but  they  must  nevertheless 
yield  a  palm  to  some  of  our  moderns.  In  the 
following  lines,  Pope  has  outdone  every  one 
of  them  : 
"  Men  some  to  pleasure,  some  to  business  takes 
"  But  every  woman  is  at  heart— a  rake" 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  MJ 

Swift  and  Dr.  Young  have  hardly  been  be- 
hind this  celebrated  splenetic  in  il liberality. 
They  perhaps  were  not  favourites  of  the  fair, 
and  in  revenge  vented  all  their  envy  and  spleen 
against  them.     But  a  more  modern  and  ac- 
complished writer,  who  by  his  rank  in  life,  by 
his  natural  and  acquivcd  graces,  was  undoubt- 
edly a  favourite,  has  repaid  their  kindness  by 
taking  every  opportunity  of  exhibiting  them 
in  the  most  contemptible  light.     "  Almost  e- 
very  man,"  says  he,  "  may  be  gained  some 
way  ;  almost  every  woman  any  way."  Can  a- 
ny  thing  exhibit  a  stronger  caution  to  the  sex  ? 
It  is  fraught  with  information  ;  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  they  will  use  it  accordingly. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIL 

On  Female  Simplicity. 

WOULD  we  conceive  properly  of  that 
simplicity  which  is  the  sweetest  expression  of 
a  well- informed  and  well-meaning  mind, 
"which  every  where  diffuses  tenderness  and 
delicacy,  sweetens  the  relations  of  life,  and 
gives  a  zest  to  the  minutest  duties  of  human- 
ity, let  us  contemplate  every  perceptible  ope- 
ration of  nature,  the  twilight  of  the  evening, 
the  pearly  dew-drops  of  the  early  morning, 
and  all  that  various  growth  which  indicates 
the  genial  return  of  spring.  The  same  prin- 
ciple from  which  all  that  is  soft  and  pleasing, 
amiable  or  exquisite  to  the  eye  or  to  the  ear, 
■  in  the  exterior  frame  of  nature,  produces  that 


I46  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

taste  for  true  simplicity,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  useful,  as  well  as  the  most  elegant  lea* 
sons,  that  ladies  can  learn. 

Infancy,  is  perhaps,  the  finest  and  most 
perfect  illustration  of  simplicity.  It  is  a  state 
of  genuine  nature  throughout/  The  feelings 
of.  children  are  under  no  kind  of  restraint,  but 
pure  as  the  fire,  free  as  the  winds,  honest  and 
open  as  the  face  of  heaven.  Their  joys  in- 
cessantly flow  in  the  thickest  succession,  and 
their  griefs  only  seem  fleeting  and  convales- 
cent. To  the  calls  of  nature  they  are  only  at- 
tentive* They  know  no  voice  but  hers*. 
Their  obedience  to  all  her  commands  is 
prompt  and  implicit.  They  never  anticipate 
her  bounties,  nor  relinquish  her  pleasures. 
Tins  situation  renders  them  independent  of  ar- 
tifice. Influenced  only  by  nature,  their  man- 
ners, like  the  principle  that  produces  them, 
are  always  the  same. 

Genuine  simplicity  is  that  peculiar  quality 
of  the  mind,  by  which  some  happy  characters 
are  enabled  to  avoid  the  most  distant  ap- 
proaches to  every  thing  like  affectation,  incon- 
sistency, or  design,  in  their  intercourse  with 
the  world.  It  is  much  more  easily  understood, 
however,  than  defined  ;  and  consists  not  in  a 
specific  tone  of  the  voice,  movement  of  the  bo- 
dy,or  mode  imposed  by  custom,but  is  the  natu- 
ral and  permanent  effect  of  real  modesty  and 
good  sense  on  the  whole  behavior. 

This  has  been  considered  in  all  ages,  as 
one  of  the  first  and  most  captivating  ornaments 
of  the  sex.  The  savage,  the  Plebeian,  the 
man  of  the  world,  and  the  courtier,  are  agreed 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  147 

in  stamping  it  with  a  preference  to  every  other 
female  excellence. 

Nature  only  is  lovely,  and  nothing  unnatu- 
ral can  ever  be  amiable.  The  genuine  ex- 
pressions of  truth  and  nature  are  happily  cal- 
culated to  impress  the  heart  with  pleasure. 
No  woman,  whatever  her  other  qualities  may 
be,  was  ever  eminently  agreeable,but  in  propor- 
tion as  distinguished  by  these.  The  world  is 
good-natured  enough  to  give  a  lady  credit  for 
ali  the  merit  she  can  possess  or  acquire,  with- 
out affectation'.  But  the  least  shade  or  colour- 
ing of  this  odious  foible  brings  certain  and  in- 
dexable obloquy  on  the  most  elegant  accom- 
plishments. The  blackest  suspicion  inevita- 
bly rests  on  every  thing  assumed.  She  who 
is  only  an  ape  of  others,  or  prefers  formality, 
in  all  its  gigantic  and  preposterous  shapes,  to 
that  plain,  unembarrassed  conduct  which  na- 
ture unavoidably  produces,  will  assuredly  pro- 
voke an  adundance  of  ridicule,  but  never  can 
be  an  object  either  of  love  or  esteem. 

The  various  artifices  of  the  sex  discover 
themselves  at  a  very  early  period.  A  passion 
for  expence  and  show  is  one  of  the  first  they  ex- 
hibit. This  gives  them  a  taste  for  refinement, 
which  divests  their  young  hearts  of  almost  e- 
very  other  feeling,  renders  their  tempers  de- 
sultory and  capricious,  regulates  their  dress 
only  by  the  most  fantastic  models  of  finery  and 
fashion,  and  makes  their  company  rather  tire- 
some and  awkward,  than  pleasing  or  elegant. 

No  one  perhaps  can  form  a  more  ludicrous 
contrast  to  every  thing  just  and  graceful  in  na- 
ture, than  the  woman  whose  sole  object  in 


i4B  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  Or 

life  is  to  pass  for  a  fine  lady.  The  attentions 
she  every  where  and  uniformly  pays,  expects, 
and  even  exacts,  are  tedious  and  fatiguing. 
Her  various  movements  and  attitudes  are  all 
adjusted  and  exhibited  by  rule.  By  a  happy 
fluency  of  the  most  elegant  language,  she  has 
the  art  of  imparting  a  momentary  dignity  and 
grace  to  the  merest  trifles.  Studious  only  to 
mimic  such  peculiarities  as  are  most  admired 
in  others,  she  affects  a  loquacity  peculiarly 
flippant  and  teazing  ;  because  scandal,  routs, 
finery,  fans,  china,  lovers,  lap-xiogs,  or  squir- 
rels, are  her  constant  themes.  Her  amuse- 
ments, like  those  of  a  mag-pye,  are  only 
hopping  over  the  same  spots,  prying  into  the 
same  corners,  and  devouring  the  same  spe- 
cies of  prey.  The  simple  and  beautiful  deli- 
neations of  nature,  in  her  countenance,  ges- 
tures, and  whole  deportment  are  habitually- 
deranged,  distorted,  or  concealed,  by  the  af- 
fected adoption  of  whatever  grimace  or  de* 
formity  is  latest,  or  most  in  vogue. 

She  accustoms  her  face  to  a  simper,  which 
every  separate  feature  in  it  belies.  She  spoils, 
perhaps,  a  blooming  complexion  with  a  pro- 
fusion of  artificial  coloring.  She  distorts  the 
most  exquisite  shape  by  loads  or  volumes  of 
useless  drapery.  She  has  her  head,  her  arms, 
her  feet,  and  her  gait,  equally  touched  by  art 
and  affectation,  into  what  is  called  the  tsste,  the 
forty  or  the  fashion. 

She  little  considers  to  what  a  torrent  of  ri- 
dicule and  sarcasm  this  mode  of  conduct  ex- 
poses her  ;  or  how  exceedingly  cold  and  hol- 
low that  ceremony  must  be,  which  is  not  the 


THE  FAIR  SEX,  r*j 

language  of  a  warm  heart.  She  does  not  re- 
flect how  insipid  those  smiles  are,  which  indi- 
cate no  internal  pleasantry  ;  nor  how  awk- 
ward those  graces,  which  spring  not  from  ha- 
bits of  good-nature  and  benevolence.  Thus, 
pertness  succeeds  to  delicacy,  assurance  to 
modesty,  and  all  the  vagaries  of  a  listless,  to 
all  the  sensibilities  of  an  ingenuous  mind. 

With  her,  punctilio  is  politeness  ;  dissipa- 
tion, life  ;  and  levity,  spirit.  The  miserable 
and  contemptible  drudge  of  every  tawdry  in- 
novation in  dress  or  ceremony,  she  incessant- 
ly mistakes  extravagance  for  taste,  and  finery 
for  elegance. 

Her  favorite  examples  are  not  those  persons 
of  acknowledged  sincerity,  who  speak  as  they 
feel,  and  act  as  they  think  ;  but  such  only  as 
are  formed  to  dazzle  her  fancy,  amuse  her 
senses,  or  humor  her  whims.  Her  only  stu- 
dy is  how  to  glitter  or  shine,  how  to  captivate 
and  gratify  the  gaze  of  the  multitude,  or  how 
to  swell  her  own  pomp  and  importance.  To 
this  interesting  object  all  her  assiduities  and 
time  are   religiously  devoted. 

How  often  is  debility  of  mind,  and  even 
badness  of  heart,  concealed  under  a  splendid 
exterior  !  The  fairest  of  the  species,  and  of 
the  sex,  often  want  sincerity  ;  and  without 
sincerity  every  other  qualification  is  rather  a 
blemish,  than  a  virtue,  or  excellence.  Sincer- 
ity operates  in  the  moral,  somewhat  like  the 
sun  in  the  natural  world  ;  and  produces  near- 
ly the  same  effects  on  the  dispositions  of  the 
human  heart,  which  he  does  on  inanimate  ob- 
O 


I*>  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

jects.  Wherever  sincerity  prevails,  and  is 
felt,  all  the  smiling  and  benevolent  virtues 
flourish  most;  disclose  their  sweetest  lustre, 
and  diffuse  their  richest  fragrance. 

Heaven  has  not  a  finer  or  more  perfect  em* 
blem  on  earth,  than  a  woman  of  genuine  sim- 
plicity. She  affects  no  graces  which  are  not 
inspired  by  sincerity.  Her  opinions  result 
not  from  passion  and  fancy,  but  from  reason 
and  experience.  Candor  and  humility  give 
expansion  to  her  heart.  She  struggles  for  no 
iind  of  chimerical  credit,  disclaims  the  ap- 
pearance of  every  affectation,  and  is  in  all 
things  just  what  she  seems,  and  others  would 
be  thought.  Nature,  not  art,  is  the  great 
standard  of  her  manners ;  and  her  -exterior 
"wears  no  varnish,  or  embellishment,  which  is 
not  the  genuine  signature  of  an  open,  unde- 
signing,  and  benevolent  mind.  It  is  not  in 
her  power,  because  not  in  her  nature,  to  hide, 
with  a  fawning  air,  and  a  mellow  voice,  her  a- 
version  or  contempt,  where  her  delicacy  is 
hurt,  her  temper  ruSicd,  or  her  feelings  in- 
sulted. 

in  short,  whatever  appears  most  amiable, 
lovely,  or  interesting  in  nature,  art,  manners, 
or  life,  originates  in  simplicity.  What  is  cor- 
rectness  in  taste,  purity  in  morals,  truth  in 
science,  grace  in  beauty,  but  simplicity  ?  It 
is  the  garb  of  innocence.  It  adorned  the  first 
ages,  and  stil)  adorns  the  infant  state  of  hu- 
■  inanity.  Without  simplicity,  woman  is  a 
vixen,  aifcoqm  tte,  an  hypocrite  ;  society, 
a  masquerade,  and  pleasure,  a  phantom. 

The  following  story,  I    believe,  is  pretty 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  151 

generally  known.  A  lady,  whose  husband 
had  long  been  afflicted  with  an  acute  but  lin- 
gering disease,  suddenly  feigned  such  an  un- 
common tenderness  for  him,  as  to  resolve  on 
dying  in  his  stead.  She  had  even  the  address 
to  persuade  him  not  to  outlive  this  extraor- 
dinary instance  of  her  conjugal  fidelity  and  at- 
tachment. It  was  instantly  agreed  they  should 
mutually  swallow  such  a  quantity  of  arsenic, 
as  would  speedily  effect  their  dreadful  pur- 
pose. She  composed  the  fatal  draught  be- 
fore his  face,  and  even  set  him  the  desperate 
example  of  drinking  first.  By  this  device, 
which  had  all  the  appearance  of  the  greatest 
affection  and  candour,  the  dregs  only  were  re- 
served for  him,  and  soon  put  a  period  to  his 
life. 

It  then  appeared  that  the  dose  was  so  tem- 
pered, as,  from  the  weight  of  the  principal  in- 
gredient, to  be  deadly  only  at  the  bottom, 
which  she  had  artfully  appropriated  for  his 
share.  Even  after  all  this  finesse,  she  seized, 
we  are  told,  his  inheritance,  and  insulted  his 
memory  by  a  second  marriage. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIK. 

On  the  mild  Magnanimity  of  Women. 

^  A  LATE  eminent  anatomist,  in  a  profes- 
sional discourse  on  the  female  frame,  is  said 
to  have  declared,  that  it  almost  appeared  an  act 
of  cruelty  in  nature  to  produce  such  a  being 
as  woman.     This  remark  may,  indeed,  be  the 


JS*  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

natural  exclamation  of  refined  sensibility  *  in 
contemplating  the  various  maladies  to  which 
a  creature  of  such  delicate  organs  is  inevita- 
bly exposed;  but,  if  we  take  a  more  enlarg- 
ed survey  of  human  existence,  we  shall  be 
far  from  discovering  any  just  reason  to  arraign 
the  benevolence  of  its  provident  and  gracious 
Author.  If  the  delicacy  of  woman  must  ren- 
der her  familiar  with  pain  and  sickness,  let  us 
remember  that  her  charms,  her  pleasures  and 
her  happiness  arise  also  from  the  same  attrac- 
tive quality.  She  is  a  being,  to  use  the  forci- 
ble and  elegant  expression  of  a  poet, 

"  Fine  by  defect,  and  amiably  wezk." 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  charm  by  which  she 
more  effectually  secures  the  tender  admiration 
and  the  lasting  love  of  the  more  hardy  sex, 
than  her  superior  endurance,  her  mild  and 
graceful  submission  to  the  common  evils  of 
life. 

Nor  is  this  the  sole  advantage  she  derives 
from  her  gentle  fortitude.  It  is  the  preroga- 
tive of  this  lovely  virtue,  to  lighten  the  press- 
ure of  all  those  incorrigible  evils  which  it 
cheerfully  endures.  The  frame  of  man  may 
be  compared  to  the  sturdy  oak,  which  is  of- 
ten shattered  by  resisting  the  tempest.  Wo- 
man is  the  pliant  osier,  which,  in  bending  to 
the  storm,  eludes  its  violence. 

The  accurate  observers  of  human  nature 
will  readily  allow,  that  patience  is  most  emi- 
nently thexharacteristic  of  woman.  To  what 
a  sublim^fiid  astonishing  height  this  virtue 
has  been  carried  by  beings  of  the  most  deli- 
cate texture,  we  have  striking  examples  in  the 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  153 

many  martyrs  who  were  exposed,  in  the  first 
ages  of  Christianity,  to  the  most  barbarous  and 
lingering  torture.  ^ 

Nor  was  it  only  from  christian  zeal  that 
woman  derived  the  power  of  defying  the  ut- 
most rigours  of  persecution  with  invincible 
fortitude.  Saint  Ambrose,  in  his  elaborate 
and  pious  treatise  on  this  subject,  records  the 
resolution  of  a  fair  disciple  of  Pythagoras, 
who,  being  severely  urged  by  a  tyrant  to  re- 
veal the  secrets  of  her  sex,  to  convince  him 
that  no  torments  should  reduce  her  to  so  un- 
worthy a  breach  of  her  vow,  bit  her  own 
tongue  asunder,  and  darted  it  in  the  face  of 
her  oppressor. 

In  consequence  of  those  happy  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  the  world,  from 
the  progress  of  purified  religion,  the  inflexi- 
ble spirit  of  the  tender  sex  is  no  longer  ex- 
posed to  such  inhuman  trials.  But  if  the 
earth  is  happily  delivered  from  the  demons  of 
torture  and  superstition;  if  beauty  and  inno- 
cence are  no  more  in  danger  of  being  drag- 
ged to  perish  at  the  stake — perhaps  there  are 
situations,  in  female  life,  that  require  as  much 
patience  and  magnanimity,  as  were  formerly 
exerted  in  the  fiery  torments  of  the  virgin 
martyr.  It  is  more  difficult  to  support  an  ac- 
cumulation of  minute  infelicities,  than  any- 
single  calamity  of  the  most  terriric  magni- 
tude, 


D 


ISA  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

On  Female  Delicacy, 

WHERE  the  human  race  has  little  other 
culture  than  what  it  receives  from  nature,  the 
two  sexes  live  together  unconscious  of  almost 
any  restraint  on  their  words  or  on  their  ac- 
tions. The  Greeks,  in  the  heroic  ages,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  whole  history  of  their  conduct, 
were  totally  unacquainted  With  delicacy.  The 
Romans  in  the  infancy  of  their  empire,  were 
the  same.  Tacitus  informs  us  that  the  an- 
cient Germans  had  not;  separate  beds  for  the 
two  sexes,  but  that  they  lay  promiscuously 
on  reeds  or  on  hearth,  spread  along  the  walls 
of  their  houses.  This  custom  still  prevails 
in  Lapland  among  the  peasants  of  Norway, 
Poland  and  Russia;  and  it  is  not  altogether 
obliterated  in  some  parts  of  the  highlands  of 
Scotland  and  of  Wales. 

In  Otaheite,  to  appear  naked  or  in  clothes, 
are  circumstances  equally  indifferent  to  both 
sexes ;  nor  does  any  word  in  their  language, 
nor  any  action  to  which  they  are  prompted 
by  nature,  seem  more  indelicate  or  reprehen- 
sible than  another.  Such  are  the  effects  of  a 
total  want  of  culture. 

Effects  njrt  very  dissimilar  are,  in  France 
and  Italy,  jffoduced  from  a  redundance  of  it. 
Thoughjfcse  are  the  politest  countries  in 
EuropeJBromen  there  set  themselves  above 
shame/  aiid  despise  delicacy. ..  It  is  laughed 


THE  PAIR  SEX.  155 

out  of  existence,  as  a  silly  and  unfashionable 
weakness. 

But  in  China,  one  of  the  politest  countries 
in  Asia,  and  perhaps  not  even,  in  this  respect, 
behind  France  or  Italy,  the  case  is  quite 
otherwise.  No  human  being  can  be  more 
delicate  than  a  Chinese  woman  in  her  dress, 
in  her  behaviour,  and  in  her  conversation ; 
and  should  she  ever  happen  to  be  exposed  in 
any  unbecoming  manner,  she  feels  with  the 
greatest  poignancy  the  aukwardness  of  her 
situation,  and  if  possible,  covers  her  face,  that 
she  may  not  be  known. 

In  the  midst  of  so  many  discordant  appear- 
ances, the  mind  is  perplexed,  and  can  hardly 
fix  upon  any  cause  to  which  female  delicacy 
is  to  be  ascribed.  If  we  attend,  however,  to 
the  whole  animal  creation,  if  we  consider  it 
attentively  wherever  it  falls  under  our  obser- 
vation, it  will  discover  to  us,  that  in  the  female 
there  is  a  greater  degree  of  delicacy  or  coy 
reserve  than  in  the  male.  Is  not  this  a  proof, 
that,  though  the  wide  extent  of  creation,  the 
seeds  of  deiicacyare  more  liberally  bestowed 
upon  females  than  upon  males  ? 

In  the  remotest  periods  of  which  we  have 
any  historical  account,  we  find  that  the  women 
had  a  delicacy  to  which  the  other  §ex  were 
strangers.  Rebecca  veiled  herself  when  she 
first  approached  Isaac  her  future  husband. — 
Many  of  the  fables  of  antiquity  mark,  with 
the  most  distinguishing  characips,  the  force 
of  female  delicacy.  Of  this  kind  is  the  fable 
of  Action  and  Diana.  Action,  a  famous 
hunter;  being  in  the  woods  with  his  hounds, 


156  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

beating  for  game,  accidentally  spied  Diana  and 
her  nymphs  bathing  in  a  river.  Prompted  by 
curiosity,  he  stole  silently  into  a  neighbouring 
thicket,  that  he  might  have  a  nearer  view  of 
them.  The  goddess  discovering  him,  was  so 
affronted  at  his  audacity,  and  so  much  asham- 
ed to  have  been  seen  naked,  that  in  revenge 
she  immediately  transformed  him  into  a  stag, 
set  his  own  hounds  upon  him,  and  encourag- 
ed them  to  overtake  and  devour  him.  Besides 
this,  and  other  fables,  and  historical  anec- 
dotes of  antiquity,  their  poets  seldom  exhibit 
a  female  character  without  adorning  it  with 
the  graces  of  modesty  and  delicacy.  Hence 
we  may  infer,  that  these  qualities  have  not 
only  been  always  essential  to  virtuous  women 
in  civilized  countries,  but  were  also  constant- 
ly  praised  and  esteemed  by  men  of  sensibili- 
ty ;  and  that  delicacy  is  an  innate  principle  in 
the  female  mind. 

There  are  so  many  evils  attending  the  loss 
of  virtue  in  women,  and  so  greatly  are  the 
minds  of  that  sex  depraved  when  they  have 
deviated  from  the  path  of  rectitude,,  that  a 
general  contamination  of  their  morals  may  be 
considered  as  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes 
that  can  befal  a  state,  as  in  time  it  destroys 
almost  every  public  virtue  of  the  men.  Hence 
all  wise  legislators  have  strictly  enforced  upon 
the  sex  a  particular  purity  of  manners ;  and 
not  satisfied  that  they  should  abstain  from 
vice  only,  J^ye  required  them  even  to  shun 
every  appearance  of  it. 

Such,  in  some  periods,  wrere  the  laws  of 
the  Romans;  and  such  were  the  effects  of 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  rsy 

these  laws,  that  if  ever  female  delicacy  shone 
forth  in  a  conspicuous  manner,  it  was  perhaps 
among  those  people,  after  they  had  worn  off 
much  of  the  barbarity  of  their  first  ages,  and 
before  they  became  contaminated  by  the 
wealth  and  manners  of  the  nations  which 
they  plundered  and  subjected.  Then  it  was 
that  we  find  many  of  their  women  surpassing  in 
modesty  almost  every  thing  related  by  fable  ; 
and  then  it  was  that  their  ideas  of  delicacy 
were  so  highly  refined,  that  they  could  not 
even  bear  the  secret  consciousness  of  an  in- 
voluntary crime,  and  far  less  of  having  tacitly 
consented  to  it. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

On  Female  Wit. 

WIT  has  been  well  compared  to  the  danc* 
ing  of  a  meteor,  that  blazes,  allures  and  mis- 
leads. Most  certainly  it  alone  can  never  be 
a  steady  light ;  and  too  probably  it  is  often  a 
fatal  one.  Of  those  who  have  resigned 
themselves  to  its  guidance,  how  few  has  it 
not  betrayed  into  great  indiscretions  at  least, 
by  inflaming  their  thirst  of  applause;  by  ren- 
dering them  little  nice  in  their  choice  of  com- 
pany ;  by  seducing  them  into  strokes  of  sa- 
tire, too  offensive  to  the  persons  against 
whom  they  were  levelled,  noUa  be  repelled 
upon  the  authors  with  full  vengeance;  and, 
finally,  by  making  them,  in  consequence  of 
that  heat  which  produces,  and  that  vanity 


153  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

which  fosters  it,  forgetful  of  those  cool  and 
moderate  rules  that  ought  to  regulate  their 
conduct  I 

A  very  few  only  have  been  endowed  with 
judgment  and  temper  sufficient  to  restrain 
them  from  indulging  "the  rash  dexterity  of 
wit,"  and  to  direct  it  to  purposes  equally 
agreeable  and  beneficial.  But  one  thing  is 
certain — that  witty  men,  for  the  most  partr 
have  had  few  friends,  though  many  admirers* 
Their  conversation  has  been  courted,  while 
their  abilities  have  been  feared,  or  their  cha- 
racters hated — or  both.  In  truth,  the  last 
have  seldom  merited  affection,  even  when  the 
first  have  excited  esteem.  Sometimes  their 
hearts  have  been  so  bad,  as  at  length  to  bring 
their  heads  into  disgrace. 

At  any  rate,  the  faculty  termed  wit  is  com- 
monly looked  on  with  a  suspicious  eye,  as  a 
two-edged  sword,  from  which  not  even  the 
sacredness  of  friendship  can  secure. 

It  is  generally  more  dreaded  in  women  than 
in  men.  In  a  Mrs.  Re  we,  we  may  presume, 
it  was  not.  To  great  brilliancy  of  imagina- 
tion, that  angelic  female  joined  yet  greater 
goodness  of  disposition;  and  never  wrote, 
nor  was  ever  supposed  to  have  said,  in  her 
whole  life,  an  ill-natured,  or  even  an  indeli- 
cate thing.  Of  such  a  woman,  with  all  her 
talents,  none  could  be  afraid.  In  her  compa- 
ny, it  must  have  been  impossible  not  to  feel 
respect.  If  ought  on  earth  can  present  the 
image  of  celestial  excellence  in  its  softest  ar- 
ray, it  is  surely  an  accomplished  woman ;  in 


THE  FAIPv  SEX.  i^ 

•whom  purity  and  meekness,  intelligence  and 
modesty,  mingle  their  charms. 

Men  of  the  best  sense,  however,  have  been 
■usually  averse  to  the  thought  of  marrying  a 
witty  female.  Were  they  afraid  of  being 
outshone  ?  Some  of  them  perhaps  might  be 
so,  but  many  of  them  acted  on  different  mo- 
tives. Men  who  understand  the  science  of 
domestic  happiness,  know  that  its  very  first 
principle  is  ease.  Of  that  indeed  we  grow 
fonder,  in  every  condition,  as  we  advance  in 
life,  and  as  the  heat  of  youth  abates.  But 
we  cannot  be  easy  where  we  are  not  safe. — 
We  are  never  safe  in  the  company  of  a  critic ; 
and  almost  every  wit  is  a  critic  by  profession. 
In  such  company  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  un- 
bend ourselves.  All  must  be  the  straining  of 
stud}',  or  the  anxiety  of  apprehension.  How 
painfull  Where  the  heart  may  not  expand 
and  open  itself  with  freedom,  farevvel  to  real 
friendship,  farewell  to  convivial  delight!  But 
to  suffer  this  restraint  at  home,  what  misery ! 
From  the  brandishings  of  wit  in  the  hand  of 
ill -nature,  of  imperious  passion,  or  of  un- 
bounded vanity,  who  would  not  flee?  But 
when  that  weapon  is  brandished  at  a  husband, 
is  it  to  be  wondered  if,  from  his  own  house, 
he  takes  shelter  in  the  tavern !  He  sought  a 
friend,  he  expected  to  be  happy  in  a  reasona- 
ble companion :  he  has  found  a  perpetual  sa* 
tirist,  or  a  self  sufficient  prattler.  How  does 
one  pity  such  a  man,  when  one  sees  him  in 
continual  fear  on  his  own  account,  and  that 
of  his  friends,  and  for  the  poor  lady  herself; 
.lest,  in  the  run  of  her  discourse,  she  should 


ito  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  Of 

be  guilty  of  some  petulance  or  some  indis- 
cretion, that  would  expose  her,  and  hurt  them 
all. 

But  take  the  matter  at  the  best,  there  is  still 
all  the  difference  in  the  world  between  the  en- 
tertainer of  an  evening,  and  a  partner  for  life. 
Of  the  latter,  a  sober  mind,  steady  attachment, 
and  gentle  manners,  joined  to  a" good  under- 
standing, will  ever  be  the  chief  recommenda- 
tion ;  whereas  the  qualities  that  sparkle  will 
be  often  sufficient  for  the  former. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

On  the  Influence  of  Female  Society. 

THE  company  of  ladies  has  a  very  pow- 
erful influence  on  the  sentiments  and  conduct 
of  men.  Woman  the  fruitful  source  of  half 
our  joys,  and  perhaps  of  more  than  half  our 
sorrows,  give  an  elegance  to  our  manners, 
and  a  relish  to  our  pleasures.  They  sooth 
our  afflictions,  and  soften  our  cries.  Too 
much  of  their  company  will  render  us  effemi- 
nate, and  infallibly  stamp  upon  us  many  sig- 
natures of  the  female  nature.  A  rough  and 
unpolished  behavour,  as  well  as  slovenliness 
of  person,  will  certainly  be  the  consequence 
of  aft  almost  constant  exclusion  from  it.  By 
spending  a  reasonable  portion  of  our  time  In 
the  company  of  women,  and  another  in  tne 
company  of  our  own  s<  x,  we  shall  imbibe  a 
proper  share  of  the  softness  of  the  female,  and 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  I6i 

at  the  same  time  retain  the  firmness  and  con- 
stancy of  the  male. 

"  We  believe  that  is  it  proper,"  says  an  a- 
miable  writer,  who  has  studied  the  human 
heart  with  success,  "  for  persons  of  the  same 
age,  of  the  same  sex,  of  similar  dispositions 
and  pursuits,  to  associate  together.,,  But 
here  we  seem  to  be  deceived  by  words.  If 
we  consult  nature  and  common  sense,  we 
shall  find,  that  the  true  propriety  and  harmo- 
ny of  social  life  depend  upon  the  connection 
of  people  of  different  dispositions  and  charac- 
ters judiciously  blended  together.  Nature 
hath  made  no  individual,  and  no  class  of  peo- 
ple, independent  of  the  rest  of  their  species, 
or  sufficient  for  their  own  happiness. 

"  Each  sex,  each  character,  each  period  of 
life,  have  their  several  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages ;  and  that  union  is  the  happiest  and 
most  proper  where  wants  are  mutually  sup- 
plied. 

"  The  fair  sex  should  naturally  hope  to 
gain  from  our  conversation  knowledge,  wis- 
dom, and  sedateness  ;  and  they  should  give 
to  us,  in  exchange,  humanity,  politeness, 
cheerfulness,  taste,  and  sentiment. 

"  The  levity,  the  rashness,  and  folly  of  ear- 
ly life  are  tempered  with  the  gravity,  the 
caution,  and  the  wisdom  of  age  ;  while  the 
timidity,  coldness  of  heart,  and  languor  inci- 
dent to  declining  years,  are  supported  and  as- 
sisted by  the  courage,  the  warmth,  and  the  vi- 
vacity of  youth." 

As  little  social  intercourse   subsisted  be- 
tween the  two  sexes,  in  the  more  early  ages 
P 


I6J         historical  sketches  of 

of  antiquity,  we  find  the  men  less  courteous, 
and  the  women  less  engaging.  Vivacity  and 
cheerfulness  seem  hardly  to  have  existed. 
Even  the  Babylonians,  who  appear  to  have  al- 
lowed their  women  more  liberty  than  any  of 
the  ancients,  seem  not  to  have  lived  with  them 
in  a  friendly  and  familiar  manner.  But  as 
their  intercourse  with  them  was  considerably 
greater  than  that  of  the  neighbouring  nations, 
tliey  acquired  thereby  a  polish  and  refinement 
unknown  to  any  of  the  people  who  surround- 
ed them.  The  manners  of  both  sexes  were 
softer,  and  better  calculated  to  please. 

They  likewise  paid  more  attention  to  clean- 
liness and  dress. 

After  the  Greeks  became  famous  for  their 
knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  their 
rudeness  and  barbarity  were  only  softened  a 
few  degrees.  It  is  not  therefore  arts,  sciences, 
and  learning*  but  the  company  of  the  other 
sex,  that  forms  the  manners  and  renders  the 
man  agreeable. 

The  Romans  were,  for  some  time,  a  com- 
munity without  women,  and  consequently 
without  any  thing  to  soften  the  ferocity  of 
male  nature.  The  Sabine  virgins,  whom 
they  had  stolen,  appear  to  have  infused  into 
them  the  first  ideas  of  politeness.  But  it  was 
many  ages  before  this  politeness  banished  the 
roughness  of  the  wrarrior,  and  assumed  the  re- 
finement of  the  gentleman. 

During  the  times  of  chivalry,  female  influ- 
ence was  at  the  zenith  of  its  glory  and  perfec- 
tion. It  was  the  source  of  valour,  it  gave  birth  to 
politeness,  it  awakened  pity,  it  called  forth  be- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  IJ63 

nevolence,  it  restricted  the  hand  of  oppression, 
and  meliorated  the  human  heart.  "  I  cannot 
approach  my  mistress,"  said  one,  "  till  I  have 
done  some  glorious  deed  that  may  deserve 
her  notice.  Actions  should  be  the  messengers 
of  the  heart;  they  are  the  homage  due  to 
beauty,  and  they  only  should  discover  love." 

Marsan,  instructing  a  young  knight  how  to 
behave  so  as  to  gain  the  favour  of  the  fair,  has 
these  remarkable  words  : — "  When  your  arm 
is  raised,  if  your  lance  fail,  draw  your  sword 
directly  ;  and  let  heaven  and  hell  resound 
with  the  clash.  Lifeless  is  the  soul  which 
beauty  cannot  animate,  and  weak  is  the  arm 
which  cannot  fight  valiantly  to  defend  it." 

The  Russians,  Poles,  and  even  the  Dutch, 
pay  less  attention  to  their  females  than  any  of 
their  neighbours,  and  are,  by  consequence, 
less  distinguished  for  the  graces  of  their  per- 
sons, and  the  feelings  of  their  hearts. 

The  lightness  of  their  food,  and  the  salubri- 
ty of  their  air,  have  been  assigned  as  reasons 
for  the  vivacity  and  cheerfulness  of  the  French, 
and  their  fortitude  in  supporting  their  spirits 
through  all  the  adverse  circumstances  of  this 
world.  But  the  constant  mixture  of  the 
young  and  old,  of  the  two  sexes,  is  no  cloubt 
one  of  the  principal  reasons  why  the  cares  and 
ills  of  lift  sit  lighter  on  the  shoulders  of  that 
fantastic  people,  than  on  those  of  any  other 
country  in  the  world. 

The  French  reckon  an  excursion  dull,  and 
a  party  of  pleasure  without  relish,  unless  a 
mixture  of  both  sexes  join  to  compose  it. 
The  French  women  do  not  even  withdraw 


164  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

from  the  table  after  meals  ;  nor  do  the  men 
discover  that  impatience  to  have  them  dis- 
missed, which  they  so  often  do  in  England. 

It  is  alledged  by  those  who  have  no  relish 
for  the  conversation  of  the  fair  sex,  that  their 
presence  curbs  the  freedom  of  speech,  and  re- 
strains the  jollity  of  mirth.  But,  if  the  con- 
versation and  the  mirth  are  decent,  if  the  com- 
pany are  capable  of  relishing  any  thing  but 
wine,  the  very  reverse  is  the  case.  Ladies, 
in  general,  are  not  only  more  cheerful  than 
gentlemen,  but  more  eager  to  promote  mirth 
and  good  humour. 

So  powerful,  indeed,  are  the  company  and 
conversation  of  the  fair,  in  diffusing  happiness 
and  hilarity,  that  even  the  cloud  which  hangs 
on  the  thoughtful  brow  of  an  Englishman,  be- 
gins in  the  present  age  to  brighten,  by  his  de- 
voting to  the  ladies  a  larger  share  of  time 
than  was  formerly  done  by  his  ancestors. 

Though  the  influence  of  the  sexes  be  reci* 
procal,  yet  that  of  the  ladies  is  certainly  the 
greatest.  How  often  may  one  see  a  compa- 
ny of  men,  who  were  disposed  to  be  riotous, 
checked  all  at  once  into  decency  by  the  aeci- 
den  al  entrance  of  an  amiable  woman  ;  while 
her  good  sense  and  obliging  deportment 
charms  them  into  at  least  a  temporary  convic- 
tion, that  there  is  nothing  so  beautiful  as  fe- 
male excellence,  nothing  so  delightful  as  fe- 
male conversation,  in  its  best  form  !  Were 
such  conviction  frequently  repeated,  what 
might  we  not  expect  from  it  at  last  ? 

"  Were  Virtue,"   said  an  ancient  philosov 
pher,    "  to  appear  amongst  men  in  visible 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  165 

shape,  what  vehement  desires  would  she  enkin- 
dle !"  Virtue  exhibited  without  affectation, 
by  a  lovely  young  person,  of  improved  un- 
derstanding  and  gentle  manners,  may  be  said 
to  appear  with  the  most  alluring  aspect,  sur- 
rounded by  the  Graces. 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  point  out  in* 
stances  of  the  most  evident  reformation, 
wrought  on  particular  men,  by  their  having 
happily  conceived  a  passion  for  virtuous  wo- 
men. 

To  form  the  manners  of  men,  various  cau- 
ses contribute  ;  but  nothing,  perhaps,  so 
much  as  the  turn  of  the  woman  with  whom 
they  converse.  Those  who  are  most  conver- 
sant with  women  of  virtue  and  understanding, 
will  be  always  found  the  most  amiable  charac- 
ters ;  other  circumstances  being  supposed  a- 
like.  Such  society,  beyoiid  everything  else, 
rubs  off  the  corners  that  gave  many  of  our  sex 
an  ungracious  roughness.  It  produces  a  pol- 
ish more  perfect,  and  more  pleasing  than  that 
which  is  received  from  a  general  commerce 
with  the  world.  This  last  is  often  specious, 
but  commonly  superficial.  The  other  is  the 
result  of  gentler  feelings,  and  more  humani- 
ty. The  heart  itself  is  moulded.  Habits  of 
undissembled  courtesy  are  formed.  A  cer- 
tain flowing  urbanity  is  acquired.  Violent 
passions,  rash  oaths,  coarse  jests,  indelicate 
language  of  every  kind,  are  precluded  and 
disrelished. 

Understanding  and  virtue,  by  being  often 
contemplated  in  the  most  engaging  lights, 
have  a  sort  of  assimilating  oqw&V    Let  it  fioi 


266  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

be  supposed,  however,  that  the  men,  here  de- 
scribed, will  become  feminine.  Their  sen- 
timents and  deportment  will  only  contract  a 
grace  ;  their  principles  will  have  nothing  fe- 
rocious or  forbidding  ;  their  affections  will 
be  chaste  and  soothing  at  the  same  instant.  In 
that  case,  the  gentleman,  the  man  of  worthy 
and  the  religious  man,  will  all  melt  insensibly 
find  sweetly  into  one  another. 

The  French  and  Italian  nobility  are  gene- 
rally educated   in   the  drawing-room,  at    the 
toilette,    and    places    of  public   amusement, 
where  they  are  constantly  in  the  company  of 
women. 

The  English  nobility  and  gentry  receive 
their  education  at  the  University,  and  at  New- 
market, where  books,  grooms,  and  jockies 
must,  of  course,  be  their  companions. 

Some  mode  of  education,  between  these 
two  extremes,  would  have  a  tendency  to  pre- 
serve the  dignity  of  the  man,  as  well  as  to  in- 
fuse a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  address  of  the 
woman. 

Female  society  gives  men  a  taste  for  clean- 
liness and  elegance  of.  person.  Our  ancestors, 
wrho  kept  but  little  company  with  their  wo- 
men, were  not  only  slovenly  in  their  dress,  but 
had  their  countenances  disfigured  with  long 
beards.  By  female  influence,  however,  beards 
were,  in  process  of  time,  mutilated  down  to 
mustaches.  As  the  gentlemen  found  that  the 
ladies  had  no  great  relish  for  mustaches,  which 
were  the  relicts  of  a  beard,  they  cut  and  curl- 
ed them  into  various  fashions,  to  render  them 
more  agreeable.     At   last,   however,  finding 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  167 

such  labor  vain,  they  gave  them  up  altogether. 
But  as  those  of  the  three  learned  professions 
were  supposed  to  be  endowed  with,  or  at  least 
to  stand  in  need  of,  more  wisdom  than  other 
people,  and  as  the  longest  beard  had  always 
been  deemed  to  sprout  from  the  wisest  chin, 
to  supply  this  mark  of  distinction,  which  they 
had  lost  they  contrived  to  smother  their  heads 
in  enormous  quantities  of  frizzled  hair,  that 
thev  might  bear  the  greater  resemblance  to  an 
owl,  the' bird  sacred  to  wisdom  and  Miner- 
va. 

To  female  society  it  has  been  objected  by 
the  learned  and  studious,  that  it  enervates  the 
mind,  and  gives  it  such  a  turn  for  trifling,  le- 
vity, and  dissipation,  as  renders  it  altogether 
ynfit  for  that  application  which  is  necessary  in 
order  to  become  eminent  in  any  of  the  sciences. 
In  proof  of  this  they  allege,  that  the  greatest 
philosophers  seldom  or  never  were  men  who 
enjoyed,  or  were  fit  for,  the  company  or  con- 
versation of  women.  Sir  Issac  Newton  hard- 
ly ever  conversed  with  any  of  the  sex.  Ba- 
con, Boyle,  des  Cartes,  and  many  others,  con- 
spicuous for  their  learning  and  application, 
were  but  indifferent  companions  to  the  fair. 

It  is  certain,  indeed,  that  the  youth  who 
devotes  his  whole  time  and  attention  to  fe- 
male conversation,  and  the  little  offices  of  gal- 
lantry, never  distinguishes  himself  in  the  li- 
terary world.  But  notwithstanding  this,  with- 
out the  fatigue  and  application  of  severe  stu- 
dy, he  often  obtains,  by  female  interest,  that 
which  is  denied  to  the  merited  improvements 
acquired  by  the  labor  of  many  years. 


idS  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

Of  the  British  Ladies  at  different   Periods* 

WHAT  polished  nations  understand  by 
society,  Lipears  to  have  been  little  known  in 
England,  before  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
This  backwardness  may  in  some  measure  be 
ascribed  to  our  continental  wars  with  France 
and  with  Scotland.  By  our  quarrels  with  the 
one,  we  were  shut  out  from  foreign  inter- 
course ;  and  by  our  hostilities  with  both,  we 
were  diverted  from  cultivating  the  arts  of 
peace. 

The  spirit  of  chivalry,  which  produced 
such  ami! zing  effects  on  the  Continent,  was 
more  weakly  felt  here.  Edward  III.  had  in- 
deed established  the  order  of  the  Garter. — 
But  real  wars  allowed  the  knights  little  time 
for  the  mock  encounter,  or  the  generous  vi- 
sions of  romantic  heroism.  Love  wras  still 
a  simple  passion,  which  led  the  shortest  way 
to  its  gratification,  and  generally  in  conformity 
with  law  and  custom.  It  partook  little  of 
imagination;  and  consequently,  required  few 
perfections  in  its  object.  It  aspired  neither 
at  angels  nor  goddesses. 

The  women,  who  still  retained  all  their  na- 
tive innocence  and  modesty,  were  regarded 
only  as  wives  and  mothers.  Where  qualifi- 
cations are  not  demanded,  they  will  never  be 
found.  The  accomplishments  of  the  sex  en- 
titled them  to  no  other  character;  and  it  had 
perhaps  been  happy  for  both  sexes,  if  they 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  i6> 

could  have  remained  in  such  a  state  of  sim- 
plicity. 

The  Scots  by  means  of  their  alliance  with 
France,  which  had  subsisted  for  several  cen- 
turies, and  that  spirit  of  adventure,  which 
has  at  all  times  led  them  abroad  in  quest  of 
reputation,  civil  or  military,  may  be  supposed 
at  this  time  to  have  been  better  acquainted 
with  the  elegancies  of  life,  than  their  wealthy 
and  powerful  neighbors.  Accordingly  wc 
find,  in  the  court  of  James  IV.  a  taste  in  mu- 
sic, in  letters,  and  in  gallantry,  to  which  the 
great  monarch  of  the  house  of  Tudor  and  his 
haughty  barons  were  yet  strangers. 

But  the  political  state  of  both  kingdoms 
was  an  insuperable  bar  to  all  liberal  inter- 
course. The  barons,  or  chiefs,  were  hostile 
to  the  court,  from  which  they  hadevery  thing 
to  fear,  and  nothing  to  hope.  They  were 
dreaded  by  it  in  their  turn  ;  they  looked  from 
the  walls  of  their  castles  with  a  jealous  eye 
on  each  other ;  they  never  went  abroad,  but 
attended  by  a  numerous  train  of  domestics. 
They  visited  each  other  with  the  state,^and 
the  diffidence  of  neighbouring  princes.  Their 
marriages  were  contracted  from  family  mo- 
tives, and  their  courtships  were  conducted 
with  the  greatest  form,  and  the  most  distant 
respect.  They  took  liberties  indeed  with  the 
women  of  inferior  condition,  and  they  rioted 
in  thoughtless  jollity  with  their  dependants. 
But  the  ideas  of  inferiority  and  dependance 
are  incompatible  with  those  of  society  and 
gallantry. 


X70  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Henry  VII.  by  curbing  the  hostile  spirit  of 
the  barons,  by  abridging  their  power,  by  di- 
minishing their  retainers,  by  extending  com- 
merce, by  encouraging  agriculture,  by  secur- 
ing peace  to  his  subjects,  at  home  and  abroad, 
prepared  the  way  for  learning,  arts  and  ele- 
gance. But  the  taste  of  the  nation  was  not 
yet  ripe  for  their  reception ;  and  the  temper 
of  his  son,  Henry  VIII.  was  not  highly  fa- 
vourable to  such  a  revolution.  That  prince^ 
however,  by  his  taste  for  tournaments,  fos- 
tered the  spirit  of  chivalry.  By  his  magnifi- 
cence and  profusion  he  drew  the  nobility  to 
court ;  and,  by  his  interviews  with  the  em- 
peror and  the  French  king,  he  roused  their  em- 
ulation of  foreign  elegance.  They  were  smit- 
ten with  the  love  of  letters  and  of  gallantry. 
The  Earl  of  Surrey,  in  particular,  celebrated 
his  mistress  in  his  verses,  and  defended  her  ho- 
nour with  his  sword,  against  all  who  dared, 
with  unhallowed  lips,  to  profane  her  immxcu- 
late  name. 

The  women  in  this  reign  likewise  began 
to  discover  a  taste  for  literature  and  polite- 
ness. The  countess  of  Richmond,  mother 
to  Henry  VII.  and  who  survived  him,  had 
shewn  the  way.  She  translated  two  pious  trea- 
tises from  the  French ;  and  was  a  great  pat- 
roness of  learning.  Elizabeth  Blount,  mis- 
tress to  Henry  VIII.  was  a  woman  of  ele- 
gant accomplishments;  and  his  last  queen, 
Catharine  Parr,  wrote  with  facility  both  in 
Latin  and  English,  and  appears  besides  to. 
have  been  a  woman  of  address. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  171 

But  tlie  house  of  Sir  Thomas  More  seems, 
in  a  more  particular  manner,  to  have  been 
the  habitation  of  the  Muses,  and  even  of  the 
Graces,  He  was  possessed  of  all  the  learn- 
ing of  antiquity,  and  was  pious  even  to  weak- 
ness. But  neither  his  religion  nor  his  learn- 
ing, soured  his  temper,  nor  blunted  his  taste 
for  society.  His  ideas  of  the  female  charac- 
ter would  do  honour  to  a  gentleman  of  the 
present  age.  "  May  you  meet  with  a  wife 
not  stupidly  silent,  nor  always  prattling  non- 
sense. May  she  be  learned,  if  possible,  or  at 
least  capable  of  being  made  so.  A  woman, 
thus  accomplished,  will  always  be  drawing 
sentiments  and  maxims  out  of  the  best  au- 
thors. She  will  be  herself,  in  all  the  changes 
of  fortune.  She  will  neither  be  blown  up 
with  prosperity,  nor  brokvn  in  adversity. — 
You  will  find  in  her  an  even,  cheerful,  good- 
humored  friend,  and  an  agreeable  companion 
for  life.  She  will  infuse  knowledge  into  your 
children  with  their  milk,  and  from  their  infancy 
train  them  up  to  wisdom.  Whatever  com- 
pany you  are  engaged  in,  you  will  long  to  be 
at  home ;  and  will  retire  with  delight  from 
the  society  of  men  into  the  besom  of  a  wo- 
man, who  is  so  dear,  so  knowing  and  so 
amiable.  If  she  touches  her  lute,  and  more 
particularly  if  she  sings  to  it  any  of  her  own 
compositions,  it  will  soothe  your  solitude, 
and  her  voice  will  sound  sweeter  in  your  ear 
than  the  song  of  the  nightingale.  You  will 
spend  whole  days  and  nights  with  pleasure  in 
her  company,  and  you  will  be  always  finding 
out  new  beauties  in  her  mind.  She  will  keep 


173  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

your  soul  in  perpetual  serenity.  She  will  re- 
strain  its  mirth  from  being  dissolute,  and  pre- 
vent its  melancholy  from  becoming  painful." 

According  to  these  ideas,  he  educated  his 
three  daughters,  whose  virtues  and  talents  ap- 
pear to  have  merited  all  his  care.  They  lived 
for  some  time  in  one  house,  with  their  father, 
their  husbands  and  their  children,  and  formed 
a  society,  all  things  considered,  which  has 
seldom,  if  ever,  been  equalled,  in  any  age  or 
country ;  where  morals  were  sublimed  by 
religion ;  where  manners  were  polished  by  a 
sense  of  elegance,  and  softened  by  a  desire  to 
please ;  where  friendship  was  warmed  by 
love,  and  strengthened  by  the  ties  of  blood. 
Their  conversation  animated  by  genius,  en- 
riched by  learning,  and  moderated  by  respect, 
exulting  in  the  dignity  of  its  object,  seemed 
to  approach  to  that  fine  transport  which  im- 
mortal beings  may  be  supposed  to  feel,  in 
pouring  out  their  contemplations  of  the  wis- 
dom and  goodness  of  the  Creator.  When 
lighter  matters  were  the  subject  of  discourse, 
wit  had  a  spring,  humor  a  flow,  and  sentiment 
a  poignancy,  of  which  those  who  are  often 
talking  of  trifles,  who  hover  continually  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  rove  like  butter- 
flies from  sense  to  sense,  both  in  their  lives 
and  conversations,  can  have  no  conception. 

The  reign  of  Elizabeth  is  justly  considered 
as  one  of  the  most  shining  periods  in  the 
English  history.  For  purity  of  manners,  vigor 
of  mind,  vigor  of  character,  and  personal  ad* 
dress,  it  is,  perhaps  unequalled. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  17^ 

The  magnificent  entertainments  which  that 
illustrious  princess  so  frequently  gave  her 
court,  and  at  which  she  generally  appeared  in 
person,  with  a  most  engaging  familiarity, 
rubbed  off  the  ancient  reserve  of  the  nobility, 
and  increased  the  taste  of  society,  and  even 
of  gallantry.  The  masculine  boldness  of  her 
character,  however,  was  unfavourable  to  fe- 
male graces.  The  women  of  her  court,  like 
herself,  were  rather  objects  of  respect  than 
love.  Their  virtues  were  severe;  their  learn- 
ing and  their  talents  were  often  great ;  they 
had  passions,  but  they  knew  how  to  suppress 
them,  or  to  divert  them  into  the  channel  of 
interest  or  ambition.  They  did  not,  however, 
want  their  admirers.  Men  were  less  delicate 
in  those  days. 

Spencer,  by  writing  his  "  Fairy  Queen,'* 
revived  in  Britain  the  spirit  of  chivalry  at  a 
time  when  it  began  to  expire  on  the  "conti- 
nent ;  and  Sir  Philip  Sydney,  in  his  "  Arca- 
dia,'' refined  on  that  sentiment.  The  Fairy 
Queen  was  intended  as  a  compliment  to  Eli- 
zabeth ;  and  the  Arcadia  was  dedicated  by 
Sir  Philip  to  his  sister,  the  countess  of  Pem- 
broke, the  most  amiable  and  accomplished 
woman  of  her  time. 

The  following  ingenious  and  well-known 
verses  were  intended  as  part  of  her  epitaph  : 
"  Underneath  this  sable  hearse 
Lies  the  subject  of  all  verse, 
Sydney's  sister,  Pembroke's  mother — 
Death  !  ere  thou  hast  kill'd  another, 
Fair,  and  learn'd,  and  good  as  she, 
Time  shall  throw  a  dart  at  thee."' 


174  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Elizabeth  herself  was  a  great  and  singular 
character.  But  she  had  few  qualities  to  re- 
commend her  as  a  woman,  though  passionate- 
ly fond  of  personal  admiration.  Nor  were 
her  talents,  as  a  writer,  either  striking  or  ele- 
gant, though  she  appears  to  have  been  ambi- 
tious of  literary  fame.  Her  ability  as  a  so- 
vereign has  been  already  considered.  Her 
virtues  were  those  of  her  rank,  and  of  her 
age ;  and  her  weaknesses  those  of  her  sex. 
They  failed,  however,  to  render  her  amiable. 

The  accession  of  James  VI.  to  the  throne 
of  England,  contributed  still  farther  to  ob- 
struct the  progress  of  civilization  in  Scotland, 
and  to  the  decline  of  the  arts  in  that  country. 
The  removal  of  the  court  drew  the  nobility 
to  London,  to  spend  their  fortunes,  or  obtain 
preferment.  Men  of  genius  and  learning 
likewise  looked  this  way. 

That  event,  however,  must  have  contribut- 
ed to  the  advancement  of  society  in  England ; 
yet  not  so  much  as  might  be  expected.  The 
scantiness  of  James's  revenue,  together  with 
his  want  of  economy,  rendered  him  unable 
to  support  the  splendour  of  a  court.  It  was 
besides  inconsistent  with  his  maxims  of  po- 
licy, and  with  his  temper.  He  loved  to  be 
social  with  his  friends,  but  hated  a  croud  ; 
and  had  rather  an  aversion  to  the  company  of 
women.  A  mean  jealousy,  which  took  place 
of  a  generous  emulation,  between  the  Scotch 
and  English  courtiers,  prevented  still  farther, 
the  refinement  of  manners ;  which  can  enly 
be  effected  by  a  liberal  intercourse. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  175 

The  nobility  and  gentry  of  England  are 
still  fonder  of  a  country  life  than  those  of  any 
polished  nation  in  Europe.  It  prevailed  much 
more  then,  and  was  highly  encouraged  by 
James.  He  even  issued  proclamations,  con- 
taining  severe  threatenings,  against  the  gentry 
who  lived  in  town.  By  these  means,  the  an- 
cient pride  of  family  was  preserved.  Men 
of  birth  were  distinguished  by  a  stateliness 
of  carriage.  Much  ceremony  took  place  in 
the  ordinary  commerce  of  life  ;  and,  as  riches 
acquired  by  trade  were  still  rare,  little  famili- 
arity was  indulged  by  the  great. 

The  most  distinguished  women  of  this  pe- 
riod in  Britain,  were  the  Duchess  of  New- 
castle, Lady  Pakington  and  Lady  Halket. 

The  Duchess  of  Newcastle  has  left  us  a 
variety  of  compositions,  both  in  prose  and 
verse,  of  no  mean  character. 

Lady  Pakington  has  long  been  reputed 
the  author  of  The  whole  duty  of  Man,  and 
several  other  moral  and  divine  treatises; 
which  are  written  with  so  much  temper,  pu- 
rity, piety,  philosophy  and  good  sense,  that 
she  may  be  justly  reckoned  the  glory  of  her 
sex,  and  an  honour  to  human  nature.  What 
greatness  of  mind  and  goodness  of  heart  must 
the  person  be  possessed  of,  who  could  deny 
herself  the  honour  of  such  works,  lest  the 
name  of  a  woman  should  render  them  of  less 
service  to  mankind ! 

The  restoration  of  monarchy  made  ample 
amends  to  beauty  for  the  indignities  of  the 
commonwealth.  The  reign  of  Charles  II. 
may  be  considered,  in  one  light  as  the  most 


l76  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

glorious  csra  to  women  in  the  history  of  Bri~ 
tain,  and  as  the  most  debasing  in  another. — 
They  were  never  so  much  caressed ;  never 
so  little  respected. 

Charles  himself  had  a  susceptible,  but 
changeable  heart;  a  social  temper,  a  genteel 
manner,  and  a  lively  wit.  His  courtiers  par- 
took much  of  the  character  of  their  master. 
They  had  all  suffered  the  pressure  of  adver- 
sity, or  felt  the  insolence  of  tyranny.  They 
began  to  think  that  Christianity  was  a  fable ; 
that  virtue  was  a  cheat ;  that  friendship  and 
generosity  were  but  words  of  course ;  and, 
in  greedily  enjoying  their  change  of  fortune, 
they  sunk  themselves  beneath  the  dignity  of 
men.  In  avoiding  spiritual  pride,  and  in  re- 
taliating selfishness,  they  departed  from  the 
essential  principles  of  religion  and  morals ; 
and  by  contrasting  the  language  and  the  man- 
ners of  hypocrisy,  they  shamelessly  violated 
the  laws  of  decency  and  decorum. 

Overjoyed  at  the  return  of  their  sovereign, 
the  whole  royal  party  dissolved  in  thoughtless 
jollity  ;    and  even  many  of  the  republicans, 
particularly  the  younger  class,  and   the  wo- 
men, were  glad  to  be  relieved  from  the  auster- 
ity of  the  commonwealth.     A  general  relax- 
ation of  manners  took  place.     Pleasure  be- 
came   the  universal  object,  and  love  the  pre- 
vailing taste  ;  but  that  love  was  rather  an  ap- 
petite than  a  passion.     Beauty,  unconnected 
with  virtue,  was  its  object  :    it  was  therefore 
void  of  honor  and  attachment.      In   conse- 
quence of  such  manners,  female  virtue,  rob- 
bed of  its  reward,  became  rather  a  mode  of 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  177 

behavior  to  inflame  desire,  or  procure  eleva- 
tion, than  a  sentiment  or  principle  ;  and,  of 
course,  sooner  or  later, /was  either  sacrificed 
to  inclination  or  to  caprice. 

But  these  observations  in  their  full  extent, 
must  only  be  understood  of  the  court.  The 
greater  part  of  the  gentry  still  resided 
on  their  estates  in  the  country,  equally  stran- 
gers to  the  pleasures  of  the  court  and  town  ; 
and  one  half  of  the  island  was  filled  with  in- 
dignation at  the  vices  of  Whitehall.  The 
stage,  which  generally  takes  its  complexion 
from  the  court,  was  a  continued  scene  of  sen- 
suality, blasphemy,  and  absurdity. 

The  free  intercourse,  however,  of  all  ranks 
of  men,  from  the  king  to  the  commoner,  im- 
proved the  talent  of  society,  and  polished  the 
language  of  conversation.  Gallantry,  licen- 
tious as  it  was,  produced  an  habit  of  polite- 
ness ;  and  from  the  irregular,  and  even  impi- 
ous freedom  of  writing  and  thinking,  sprung- 
many  strokes  of  real  genius,  and  a  liberal 
spirit  of  inquiry,  whose  researches  and  experi- 
ments have  benefited  mankind,  and  carried 
philosophy  and  the  sciences  to  an  height  that 
does  honor  to  modern  times;: 

The  women  of  this  reign,  as  may  be  ex- 
pected from  the  taste  of  the  men,  were  more 
solicitous  about  adorning  their-  persons,-  than* 
th«ir  minds.  But  the  frequent  intercourse 
between  the  sexes  in  some  measure  compen- 
sated that  neglect.  By  such  a-  commerce- 
they  became  more  easy,  more  free,  mo?e  live- 
ly, and  more  capable  of  conversation  than  tha 
^Qaxeo  of  any  preceding  age,     They  had  Jess 


ITS  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

learning,  but  more  accomplishments  ;  and 
perhaps  more  genius.  They  wanted  nothing 
but  virtue  to  have  made  their  memories  im- 
mortal ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  general  de- 
pravity, there  were  some  who  trod  the  nar- 
row path,  whose  taste  and  sentiments  were 
un  corrupted,  and  whose  names  still  live  in 
their  writings,  and  in  the  verses  of  their  co- 
temporaries. 

The  reign  of  James  II.  was  too  short  to 
to  have  any  distinct  character.  It  is  only  sin- 
gular for  the  blind  bigotry,  and  blinder  dispo- 
sition of  the  prince  which  roused  the  minds 
of  men  from  the  delirium  of  pleasure  in  which 
they  had  been  lost,  and  brought  about  the  re- 
volution. 

Under  William  III.  the  effects  of  that 
change  were  visible  on  the  manners.  The 
nation  returned  to  what  may  be  called  its  na- 
tural state.  An  attention  to  just  politics, 
to  sound  philosophy  and  true  religion,  cha- 
racterize the  sera  of  British  liberty. 

William  himself  was  of  a  gloomy  temper, 
and  had  a  dislike  to  the  company  of  women. 
The  intercourse   of  the  sexes,  and  those  a- 
musements  which  are  its  consequences,  were 
therefore  little  countenanced  during  his  reign. 
By  these  means  the  ladies  had  more  time  for 
the  pursuits  of  learning  and  knowledge  ;  and 
they  made  use  of  it  accordingly.     Many   of 
them  became  adepts   in  the  sciences.     Lady 
Masham,  and  Mary  Astell,  particularly,  dis- 
cussed with  judgment  and  ability  the    most 
abstract  points  in  metaphysics  and   divinity. 
These  two  ladies  differed  on  a  very  deii- 


THE  FAIR  SEXa  IJ? 

Gate  point.  Mary  affirmed  that  we  ought  to 
love  with  desire  God  only,  every  other  love 
being  sinful.  Lady  Masham  opposed  that 
doctrine  as  a  dangerous  refinement.  Eacli 
had  her  abettors.  Miss  Astell  was  supported 
by  Mr.  Norris,  and  Lady  Masham  by  Mr. 
Locke.  They  were  both  great  advocates 
for  the  learning  of  women  ;  and  their  argu- 
ments and  example  appear  to  have  roused 
many  of  the  sex  to  a  more  serious  attention  to- 
religion  and  morality. 

The  reign  of  queen  Anne  may  be  said  to 
have  been  the  summer,  of  which  William's 
was  only  the  spring.  Every  thing  was  ripen- 
ed ;  nothing  was  corrupted.  It  was  a  short, 
but  glorious  period  of  heroism  and  national 
capacity,  of  taste  and  science,  learning  and 
genius,  of  gallantry  without  licentiousness, 
and  politeness  without  effeminacy. 

One  is  in  doubt  which  most  to  admire  id 
the  women  of  this  reign,  the  manners,  the 
talents,  or  the  accomplishments.  They  were 
religious  without  severity,  and  without  enthu- 
siasm. They  were  learned  without  pedantry. 
They  were  intelligent  and  attractive,  without 
neglecting  the  duties  of  their  sex.  They  were 
elegant  and  entertaining,  without  levity.  In 
a  word,  they  joined  the  graces  of  society  to 
the  knowledge  of  letters,  and  the  virtues  of 
domestic  life.  They  were  friends  and  compa- 
nions, without  ceasing  to  be  wives  and  mo- 
thers. 

In  support  of  the  foregoing  character  of 
the  British  ladies  under  the  reign  of  queen 
Anne,  we  need  only  adU  the  names  of  Lady 


l9o  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Chudleigh,  Lady  Winchelsea,  the  honorable 
Mrs.  Monk,  Mrs.  Bovcv,  and  Stella, 

Of  these  ladies,  Mrs.  Bovey  is  perhaps  the 
least  known,  as  she  has  left  no  writings,  and 
had  no  poetical  lover  to  spread  her  name.  She 
is,  however,  \cry  handsomely  complimented 
by  Sir  Richard  Steele,  in  the  dedication  of  the 
second  volume  of  the  u  Ladies  Library  ;" 
and  Mrs.  Manley  gives  the  following  elegant 
character  of  her  in  "  The  new  Atalantis  :'* 
"  Her  person  has  as  many  charms  as  can  be 
desired.  Her  air,  her  manner,  her  judgment, 
her  wit,  her  conversation,  are  admirable.  Her 
sense  is  solid  and  perspicuous.  She  is  so 
perfect  an  economist,  that  in  taking  in  all  the 
greater  duties  of  life  she  does  not  disdain  to 
stoop  to  the  most  inferior.  In  short,  she 
knows  ail  that  a  man  can  know,  without  de- 
spising what,  as  a  woman>  she  ought  not  to- 
be  ignorant  of." 

Under  George  I.  the  manners  of  the  nation 
were  sensibly  changed  ;  but  not  so  much  as 
the  national  spirit.  The  South  Sea  scheme, 
and  other  mercenary  projects,  produced  a  pas- 
sion of  avarice,  and  a  taste  of  luxury,  which 
prepared  the  way  for  all  the  corruptions  of  the 
following  reign. 

The  delirium  of  riches  was  beyond  what 
the  most  extravagant  imagination  can  con- 
ceive. Any  scheme,  however  absurd,  met 
with  encouragement,  if  it  only  proposed  suf- 
ficient advantages.  All  ranks  and  conditions, 
and  even  women  resorted  to  'Change  Alley,, 
with  the  looks  of  harpies  ready  to  seize  upon 
their  prey  ;  bulla  reality  the  victims,  of  theis 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  i3* 

own  credulity  and  sordid  passions.  The  peers 
of  the  realm  became  stock-jobbers,  and  its 
ministers  brokers.  Public  virtue  was  lost  in 
the  visions  of  private  benefit.  Letters  fell  in- 
to contempt,  though  supported  by  the  great- 
est examples  of  successful  genius,.  Love 
grew  covetous,  and  beauty  venal. 

There  were,  however,  in  this  reign  many 
woman  of  liberal  and  elegant  talents  ;  among 
the  first  of  whom  may  be  ranked  Lady  Mary 
W.  Montague,  so  well  known  for  her  spirited 
poems,  and  ingenious  letters. 

As  the  manners  of  the  two  sexes  generally 
keep  pace  with  each  other,  in  proportion  as 
the  men  grew  regardless  of  character,  the  wo- 
men neglected  the  duties  of  their  sex.  Tho' 
little  inclined  to  hoarding,  they  are  not  perhaps 
less  disposed  to  avarice  than  men.  Gold  to 
them  is  desirable,  as  the  minister  of  vanity, 
voluptuousness  and  show.  It  became  their 
supreme  object,  and  the  only  source  of  the 
matrimonial  union,  to  the  exclusion  of  that 
tender  sentiment,  which  alone  can  give 
strength  to  the  sacred  tie,  or  pleasure  to  the 
nuptial  state.  The  young,  the  beautiful,  the 
healthful,  were  wedded,  though  not  always 
with  their  own  consent,  to  age,  deformity  and 
disease.  Virtue  was  joined  to  profligacy,  and 
wantonness  to  severity. 

Such  marriages  were  necessarily  destruc- 
tive of  domestic  felicity.  The  want  of  cordi- 
ality at  home,  naturally  leads  us  abroad ;  as 
the  want  of  happiness  in  ourselves  leads  us 
to  seek  it  in  externals,  and  to  torture  imagina- 
tion for  the  gratification  cf  appetites,  which* 


1*2  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

undepraved,  are  simple  and  uniform.  New 
amusements  and  societies  of  pleasure  were  e- 
very  day  fonried  ;  new  modes  of  dissipation 
were  invented ;  the  order  of  nature  was  chang- 
ed ;  night  and  day  were  inverted  ;  fancy  and 
language  were  exhausted  for  names  to  the 
assemblies  of  politeness  and  gallantry. 

Nothing  is  so  oppressive  as  time  to  the  un- 
happy, or  thought  to  the  vacant  mind.  These 
were  not  all  enough.  They  seemed  afraid  of 
themselves,  and  of  each  other.  The  husband 
had  one  set  of  visitors  ;  the  wife  another. 
He  prosecuted  his  pleasures  abroad  :  she  en- 
tertained her  friends  at  home  ;  or  resorted  to 
some  public  amusement,  or  private  pleasure. 

A  spirit  of  gaming  which  mingled  itself 
with  dissipation  and  pleasure,  afforded  a  pre- 
tence for  nocturnal  meetings.  And  gaming,  it 
must  be  acknowledged,  discovers  the  temper, 
ruffles  the  passions,  corrupts  the  heart,  and 
breaks  down  the  strongest  barrier  of  virtue — 
a  decent  reserve  between  the  sexes. 

At  present^  we  presume  that  notwithstand- 
ing the  relaxation  of  manners,  the  aversion  to 
whatever  is  serious,  the  thirst  of  admiration, 
and  the  neglect  of  those  qualities  which  pro- 
duce esteem,  so  conspicuous  in  some  ;  yet 
the  generality  of  our  fair  countrywomen  possess 
the  domestic  virtues  in  a  considerable  degree 
of  perfection.  Infidelity  is  not  so  common  as 
some  libertines  would  endeavor  to  persuade 
us  ;  and  elopements  are  stronger  proofs  of 
sensibility  than  the  want  of  shame. 

In  this  island,  and  even  in  the  metropolis, 
there  are  many  women  who  would  have  done 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  1S3 

honour  to  any  age  or  country  ;  who  join  a  re- 
fined taste  and  a  cultivated  understanding  to 
a  feeling  heart,  and  who  adorn  their  talents 
and  their  sensibility  with  sentiments  of  virtue, 
honor,  and  humanity.  We  have  women  who 
could  have  reasoned  with  Locke,  who  might 
have  disputed  the  laurel  with  Pope,  and  to 
whom  Addison  would  have  listened  with  plea- 
sure. 

Even  in  the  middle  of  opulence,  and  of 
that  luxury  which  too  often  mingles  avarice 
with  state,  which  narrows  the  heart,  and  m;  kes 
it  at  the  same  time  vain  and  cruel,  we  «->ee 
women  who  yearly  set  apart  a  portion  of  their 
substance  for  the  poor  ;  who  make  it  their 
business  to  find  out  the  bodies  of  misery,  and 
who  number  among  their  pleasures  the  relief 
of  the  orphan,  and  the  tears  shed  in  the  con- 
solation of  the  widow. 


CHAPTER  XLIIL 

On  the  Privileges  of  British   Women. 

THOUGH  the  French  and  Italians  are  su- 
perior to  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  in 
politeness  and  in  elegance,  yet  the  condition 
of  their  women,  upon  the  whole,  is  not  prefer- 
able. Such  privileges  and  immunities  as 
they  derive  from  the  influence  of  politeness, 
the  British  derive  from  the  laws  of  their  coun- 
try. 

In  France,  the  Salique  law  does  not  allow 
a  female  to  inherit  the  crown,     But  in  En- 


l«4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

gland,  a  woman  may  be  the  first  personage  in 
the  kingdom,  may  succeed  to  the  crown  in 
her  own  right,  and  in  that  case,  not  bound  by 
any  of  the  laws  which  restrain  woman,  she 
may  enjoy  the  same  powers  and  privileges  as 
a  king.  Such  a  queen,  if  she  marry,  retains 
also  the  same  pow?r,  issues  the  orders,  and 
transacts  the  business  of  the  state  in  her  own 
name,  and  continues  still  the  sovereign,  while 
her  husband  is  only  a  subject. 

When  a  king  succeeds  in  his  own  right  to 
the  crown,  and  marries,  his  queen  is  then  on. 
ly  a  subject,  and  her  rights  and  privilege  s  are 
not  near  so  extensive.  She  is  exempted, 
however,  from  the  general  laws,  which  exclude 
married  women  from  having  any  property  in 
their  own  right.  She  may  sue  any  person  at 
law,  without  joining  her  husband  in  the  suit ; 
she  may  purchase  lands  ;  she  may  sell  and 
convey  them  to  another  person,  without  the 
interference  of  her  husband  ;  she  may  have  a 
separate  property  in  goods  and  in  lands,  and 
may  dispose  of  these  by  will,  as  if  she  were  a 
single  woman.  On  the  commission  of  any 
crime,  however,  she  may  be  tried  and  punish- 
ed by  the  peers  of  the  realm. 

To  violate  the  chastity  of  the  queen,  of  the 
consort  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  or  of  the  eld- 
est daughter  of  the  king,  although  with  their 
own  consent,  is  high  treason  and  punishable 
accordingly.  The  younger  daughters,  as 
well  as  sons  of  the  king,  are  hardly  otherwise 
distinguished  by  the  laws,  than  by  having  the 
precedency  of  all  other  subjects  in  public  ce- 
remonies. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  185 

A  peeress  when  guilty  of  any  crime,'cannot 
be  tried  but  by  the  house  of  peers. 

A  woman  who  is  noble  in  her  own  right, 
cannot  lose  her  nobility  by  marrying  the  mean- 
est plebian.  She  communicates  her  nobility 
to  her  children,  but  not  to  her  husband. 

She  who  is  only  ennobled  by  marrying  a 
peer,  loses  that  nobility,  if  she  afterwards  mar- 
ry a  commoner. 

She  who  first  marries  a  duke  or  other  peer 
of  a  superior  order,  and  afterwards  a  simple 
baron,  is  still  allowed  to  retain  her  first  title, 
and  the  privileges  annexed  to  it ;  for  the  law 
considers  all  peers  as  equals. 

By  the  courtesy  of  this  country?  the 
wives  of  baronets  are  called  ladies,  a  title 
superior  to  that  of  their  husbands,  but  at  the 
same  time  a  title  to  which  they  have  no  legal 
right,  being  in  all  judicial  writs  and  proceed- 
ings only  denominated  Dame  such-a-one,  ac- 
cording to  the  names  of  their  husbands. 

The  law  of  England  ordains,  that  if  a  man 
courts  a  woman,  promises  to  marry  her,  and 
afterwards  marries  another,  she  may,  by  bring- 
ing an  action  against  him,  recover  such  da- 
mages as  a  jury  shall  think  adequate  to  the 
loss  she  has  sustained.  In  Scotland,  she  may 
receive  one  half  of  the  fortune  he  receives  with 
his  wife.  On  the  other  hand,  as  it  sometimes 
happens  that  artful  women  draw  on  the  more 
fond  and  silly  part  of  our  sex  to  make  them 
valuable  presents  under  pretence  of  marriage, 
and  afterwards  laugh  at  or  refuse  to  marry 
them — a  man,  who  has  been  so  bubbled,  may 
sue  the  woman  to  return  the  presents  he  made 
R 


186  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

her,  because  they  were  presumed  to  have 
been  conditionally  given,  and  she  has  failed 
in  performing  her  part  of  the  condition. 

Wives  cannot  be  imprisoned  for  debt,  nor 
deprived  of  their  personal  liberty  for  any  thing 
but  crimes  ;  and  even  such  of  these  as  sub. 
ject  the  offender  only  to  a  pecuniary  punish- 
ment  must  be  expiated  by  the  husband. 

No  married  woman  is  liable  to  pay  any  debt, 
even  though  contracted  without  the  know- 
ledge, or  against  the  consent  of  her  husband. 
And  what  is  still  more  extraordinary,  whate- 
ver debts  she  may  have  contracted  while  sin- 
gle, devolve,  the  moment  of  her  marriage,  up- 
on the  hapless  spouse,  who,  like  the  scape- 
goat, is  loaded  by  the  priest  who  performs 
the  ceremony  with  all  the  sins  and  extrava- 
gances of  his  wife. 

It  is  a  common  opinion  among  the  vulgar, 
that  a  general  warning  in  the  Gazette,  or  in  a 
news- paper,  will  exempt  a  man  from  the  pay- 
ment of  such  debts  as  are  contracted  by  his 
wife  without  his  knowledge.  But  this  opini- 
on is  without  any  good  foundation.  Particu- 
lar warnings,  however,  given  in  writing,  have 
been  held  as  good  exemptions.  But  such  are 
of  little  advantage  to  a  husband,  as  his  wife 
may  always  find  people  to  give  her  credit, 
whom  the  husband  has  not  cautioned  against 

it. 

When  a  husband  forces  his  wife  to  Ieare 
fcim  by  crut 1  usage,  she  may  claim  a  separate 
maintenance  ;  while  she  enjoys  this,  he  is  not 
liable  to  pay  any  of  her  debts. 

If  a  husband,  conscious  of  having  used  his 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  18; 

wife  ill,  will  not  allow  her  to  go  out  of  his 
house,  or  carries  her  away,  or  keeps  her  con- 
cealed, in  order  to  prevent  her  endeavoring 
to  find  redress  of  the  evils  that  she  suffers,  her 
friends  may,  in  that  case,  by  applying  to  the 
court  of  King's  Bench,  obtain  an  order  for 
the  husband  to  produce  his  wife  before  the 
said  court :  and  if  she  there  swears  the  peace 
against  him,,  she  delivers  herself  from  his  ju- 
risdiction, and  he  cannot  compel  her  to  live 
with  him,  but  the  court  will  grant  her  an  or- 
der to  live  where  she  pleases. 

Among  the  Romans,  among  several  ether 
ancient  nations,  and  among  some  people  in 
the  present  times,  it  is  not  deemed  culpable 
for  a  husband  to  kill  the  man  whom  he  sur- 
prises committing  adultery  with  his  wife.  By 
the  laws  of  England,  he  wTho  kills  such  a 
man  is  reckoned  guilty  of  manslaughter ;  but, 
in  consequence  of  the  great  provocation  given, 
the  court  commonly  orders  the  sentence  of 
burning  on  the  hand  to  be  inflicted  in  the 
slightest  manner. 

A  husband  is  not  allowed  to  leave  his  wife, 
she  may  enter  a  suit  against  him  for  the  re- 
stitution of  the  rights  of  marriage  ;  and  the 
spiritual  court  will  compel  him  to  return,  to 
live  with  her,  and  to  restore  them. 

A  husband  cannot  devise  by  his  will  such 
of  his  wife's  ornaments  and  jewels  as  she  is 
accustomed  to  wear  ;  though  it  has  been 
held  that  he  may,  if  he  pleases,  dispose  of 
them  in  his  life  time. 

A  husband  is  liable  to  answer  all  such  ac- 
tions at  law  as  were  attached  against  his  wife 


IS8  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

at  the  time  of  their  marriage,  and  also  to  pay 
all  the  debts  she  had  contracted  previous  to 
that  period.  But  if  his  wife  shall  happen  to 
die  before  he  has  made  payment  of  such  debts, 
the  compact  which  made  them  one  flesh,  and 
blended  their  interests  into  one,  being  dissolv- 
ed, the  husband  is  thereby  absolved  from  pay- 
ing her  antenuptial  debts. 

Though  a  woman  marries  the  meanest 
Ian,  she  does  not  lose  the  rank  which 
she  derived  from  her  birth.  But  though  she 
be  descended  of  the  lowest  of  the  human  race 
herself  she  may  by  marriage  be  raised,  in  this 
country,  to  any  rank  beneath  the  sovereignty. 

No   woman  can  by  marriage  confer  a  set- 
tlement in  any  parish  on  her  husband.     But 
cverv  man  who  has  a  legal   settlement  him-., 
self, "confers  the  same  settlement  by  marriage 
6n  his  wife. 

It  is  no  uncommon  tiling,  in  the  present 
limes,  for  the  matrimonial  bargain  to  be  made 
,  so  as  that  the  wife  shall  retain  the  sole  and  ab- 
solute power  of  enjoying  and  disposing  of  her 
own  fortune,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  she 
were  not  married.  But  what  is  more  inequi- 
table, the  husband  is  liable  to  pay  all  the  debts 
which  his  wife  may  think  proper  to  burden 
him  with,  even  though  she  have  abundance 
of  her  own  to  answer  that  purpose.  He  is  al- 
so obliged  to  maintain  her,  though  her  cir- 
cumstances be  more  opulent  than  his  ;  and  if 
he  die  before  her,  she  has  a  right  to  one  third 
of  his  real  estate.  If,  however,  she  die  be- 
fore him,  he  is  not  entitled  to  the  value  of  one 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  189 

single  halfpenny,  unless  she  has  devised  it  to 
him  by  her  will. 

One  of  the  most  peculiar  disadvantages 
in  the  condition  of  British  women  is,  their  be- 
ing postponed  to  all  males  in  the  succession 
to' the" inheritance  of  landed  estates,  and  gen- 
erally allowed  much  smaller  shares  than  the 
men,  even  of  the  money  and  effects  of  their 
fathers  and  ancestors,  when  this  money  or 
those  effects  are  given  them  in  the  lifetime  of 
their  parents,  or  devised  to  them  by  will.  If 
the  father,  indeed,  dies  intestate,  they  share  e- 
qually  with  sons  in  all  personal  property. 

When  an  estate  in  default  of  male  heirs, 
descends  to  the  daughters,  the  common  cus« 
torn  of  England  is  that  the  eldest  shall  not,  in 
the  same  manner  as  an  eldest  son,  inherit  the 
whole,  but  all  the  daughters  shall  have  an  c 
qual  share  in  it,  Westmoreland,  however, 
and  some  other  places,  are  exceptions  to  this 
general  rule.  The  eldest  daughter,  there 
succeeds  to  the  whole  of  the  land,  in  prefer- 
ence to  all  the  other  sisters. 

Women  are  not  allowed  to  be  members  of 
our  senate,  nor  to  concern  themselves  much 
with  our  trades  and  professions.  Both  in 
their  virgin  and  married  state,  a  perpetual 
guardianship  is,  in  some  measure*  exercised 
over  them  :  and  she  who,  having  laid  a  hus- 
band in  the  grave,  enjoys  an  independent  foi  - 
tune,  is  almost  the  only  woman  among  us,  who 
can  be  called  entirely  free.  They  derive  the 
greater  part  of  the  power  which  they  enjoyr 
from  their,  charms  ;  and  these, -when  joined 


190  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

to  sensibility,  often  fully  compensate,  in  this 
respect,  for  the  little  disadvantages  they  are 
laid  under  by  law  and  custom.  „ 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

On  Female  Knowledge* 

SCIENCE  is  to  the  mind  what  light  is  to 
the  body ;  and  a  blind,  is  just  so  much  less 
shocking  than  an  ignorant  woman,  as  her 
mental  are  superior  to  her  corporeal  powers. 

This  species  of  accomplishment  has  been 
ridiculed,  as  raising  the  sex  above  that  sphere 
where  nature  seems  to  have  fixed  their  move- 
ments. Such  is  the  paradox  which  has  oc- 
casioned so  much  iliiberality  and  sarcasm, 
and  on  which  every  woman  of  more  knowl- 
edge than  ordinary  has  been  so  often  repre- 
sented as  a  pedant. 

Learning,  it  is  also  said,  wrould  improve 
women's  talents  of  address,  and  only  make 
them  worse  by  rendering  them  more  artful. 
This  is  likewise  an  idea  which  no  man  who 
enjoys  the  conversation  and  friendship  of  mo- 
dest and  good  women,  ever  indulged.  Who- 
ever has  the  least  regard  for  decency  and  truth, 
and  is  not  destitute  of  all  relish  for  the  happi- 
ness which  springs  from  the  chaste  sensibili- 
ties of  an  unpolluted  heart,  must  own  he  has 
suffered  much  more  from  the  selfishness  and 
cunning  of  men  than  from  any  bad  qualities 
in  women.  Indeed,  the  present  situation  of 
both,  in  this  country,  renders  it  impossible  to 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  152 

be  otherwise.  The  masculine  character  is 
peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  petrifying  influ- 
ence of  vulgar  opinion.  Our  young  men  are 
soon  intoxicated  with  the  fallacious  maxims  ei- 
ther of  the  gay  or  the  busy  world  ;  and  both 
extremes  are  equally  pernicious  to  social  ex- 
cellence. Ideas  of  the  meanest  and  most  sor- 
did tendency  absorb  their  minds  at  a  very 
early  period,  which  often  render  them  everaf 
ter  callous  to  the  workings  of  humanity.  With 
a  strong  predilection  for  wealth,  independence 
or  libertinism,  they  cheerfully  prostitute  all 
the  powers  of  their  minds  and  all  the  feelings 
of  their  hearts,  in  acquiring  one  or  all  of  those 
objects.  This  unavoidably  plunges  them  in- 
to all  the  machinations  of  pride,  all  the  in- 
trigues of  gallantry,  all  the  intricacies,  risques, 
and  vicissitudes  of  business.  Sentiment  con- 
sequently loses  its  weight,  and  sensibility  its 
edge.  Interest  triumphs  in  the  absence  of 
principle,  and  nature  relinquishes  her  domi- 
nion to  art. 

The  most  engaging  dispositions  of  the  fe- 
male mind  seldom  undergo  such  a  total  revo- 
lution. If  we  except  a  few  of  the  most  per- 
verse and  unrelenting  tempers,  women,  who 
are  not  flagrantly  vicious,  have  seldom  bad 
hearts.  Their  attachments,  which  constitute 
the  most  comfortable  circumstances  in  do- 
mestic life,  when  innocent  and  undissembled, 
are  more  lasting  and  fervent  than  ours. 

Let  no  ribaldry,  therefore,  however  plausi- 
ble and  fallacious,  divert  the  attention  of  fe- 
males from  intellectual  improvement.  Ih 
youth,  ail  the  powers  of  sensual  or  pleasura- 


192  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ble  enjoyments  are  nature,  and  decline  only 
as  the  passions  cool.  Then  let  the  fair  fur- 
nish  themselves  with  a  stock  of  other  and 
more  durable  materials,  that  they  may  live 
with  satisfaction,  when  these  are  no  more. 

It  is  when  her  fibres,  and  juices,  and  salts 
are  tender  and  genial,  that  the  earth  receives 
her  seed,  that  the  laws  of  vegetation  operate, 
and  that  all  those  plants  take  root  and  spring, 
which  afterwards  fill  her  bosom  with  plenty, 
and  her  face  with  beauty.  Nor  is  there  one 
barren  or  blighted  spot,  or  any  part  of  her 
surface  more  perfectly  black  and  dismal  than 
a  mind  involved  in  ignorance,  or  benumbed 
with  insensibility. 

In  the  season  of  youth,  therefore,  ladies 
should  make  it  their  study  to  cultivate  their 
minds  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  their 
intrinsic  value  as  substantial  as  they  wish 
their  exterior  to  be  amiable.  Knowledge  im- 
proves the  human  intellect,  and  endows  it 
with  all  its  excellence.  It  unmasks  to  our 
view  our  own  natures.  It  shows  us  what  we 
are,  and  discloses  all  that  can  be  hoped  or 
dreaded  from  the  circumstances  we  are  in. — 
By  the  regulations  it  prescribes,  and  the  deli- 
cacy it  inspires,  knowledge  improves  our 
taste  for  society,  and  imparts  a  finer  relish  to 
all  our  mutual  attachments.  It  is  the  insepa- 
rable handmaid  of  happiness ;  opens  a  thou- 
sand avenues  to  indulgence  of  the  purest  and 
most  exalted  kind ;  unlocks  to  human  view 
the  mysteries  of  Providence ;  creates  a  hea- 
ven on  earth ;  adds  to  the  joys  of  the  present 
the  hopes  of  futurity ;  and  when  the  objects 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  19? 

of  this  world  expire  on  the  senses,  fills  the 
whole  heart  with  the  glorious  and  animating 
prospects  of  another. 

Without  knowledge  the  possessions  of 
time  were  imperfect,  and  the  presages  of 
eternity  unsatisfying.  Speak,  ye  who  are  old 
and  uninformed,  do  not  all  things  appear  in- 
sipid? Your  passions  have  lost  their  fire, 
your  feelings  their  edge,  your  very  senses 
the  natural  relish  of  their  respective  objects. 
Worse,  not  better,  for  all  you  have  seen  and 
heard,  in  the  various  stages  of  life,  your 
every  thought  must  be  as  insipid  to  others, 
as  it  is  to  yourselves.  And,  of  all  the  empty 
prattle  which  fills  an  empty  world,  that  of 
second  childhood,  because  least  natural  and 
innocent,  is  most  tiresome  and  impertinent, 
Yet,  under  a  hoary  head,  the  sacred  and  ve- 
nerable emblem  of  wisdom  and  experience, 
how  frequently  do  we  meet  with  nothing  but 
stupidity,  puerility,  insignificance,  a  mind 
continually  out  of  humor,  and  a  tongue  that 
never  is  at  rest !. 

Women  can  never  arrive  at  that  impor- 
tance seemingly  designed  them  by  nature, 
while  their  genius  is  not  cultivated,  and  their 
latent  qualities  called  forth  into  view.  Visible 
qualities,  such  as  beauty,  and  the  art  of  shew- 
ing it  to  advantage,  may  in  those  moments 
when  the  heart  is  softened  by  love,  or  the 
spirits  elevated  by  wine,  give  the  women  a 
temporary  ascendancy  over  the  men,  and  en- 
able them  to  bend  them  at  pleasure  ;  as  in  the 
case  of  Thais  and  Alexander.  Such  an  as- 
cendancy, however,  is  commonly  fleeting  and 


194  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF       ' 

transient.  Cool  reason  soon  resumes  the 
place  which  passion  had  usurped ;  and  the 
empire,  which  had  been  built  on  passion, 
tumbles  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision; 
while  that  which  is  supported  by  mental  beau- 
ties, stands  the  test  of  time,  and  the  various 
incidents  of  life. 

The  sum  of  all  human  prudence  is  to  pro- 
vide against  the  worst.  Personal  beauty  soon 
diest  but  that  which  is  intellectual  is  immor- 
tal. And  though  age  be  almost  every  where 
attended  with  grey  hairs,  shattered  teeth,  dim 
eyes,  trembling  joints,  short  breath,  stiff 
limbs,  and  a  shrivelled  skin — there  is  a  charm 
in  wisdom,  which,  with  all  these  melancholy 
circumstances,  diffuses  a  pleasing  sejrenity 
over  the  evening  of  our  days.  Indeed,  no- 
thing is  so  truly  respectable  at  this  period  of 
humanity,  when  dignified,  as  it  ought  to  be, 
by  all  the  habits  and  principles  of  genuine 
benignity  and  honor.  Age  is  then  wisdom 
combined  with  experience.  It  is  the  very 
spirit  or  sum  of  all  earthly  perfection.  It  is 
an  emblem,  or  earnest,  of  that  future  and  di- 
vine fruition,  which  is  the  certain  consequence, 
and  happy  consummation,  of  all  mental  and 
moral  excellence. 

Thus  it  is  from  knowledge  alone,  that  the 
greatest  and  the  best  have  found  even  solitude 
and  retirement  so  singularly  charming,  and 
that  the  decline  of  life,  with  all  its  infirmities, 
so  frequently  glides  away  amidst  the  sweetest 
endearments  and  the  serenest  hopes.  It  is 
this  wrhich  constitutes  the  only  real  and  last- 
ing distinction  which  can  subsist   between 


THE  FAIR  S£K.  if* 

mortals  of  the  same  species ;  which  neither 
rank,  nor  title,  nor  fortune,  however  high  or 
splendid,  can  destroy  or  confer;  and  which, 
on  every  emergency,  gives  an  obvious  and 
decided  'superiority  to  wealth,  or  power,  or 
grandeur.  By  knowledge,  women,  as  well  as 
men,  share  the  prerogative  of  intelligence, 
hold  the  dominion  of  the  world,  boast  the 
lineaments  of  divinity,  and  aspire  to  an  imi- 
tation of  him  who  made  them! 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

Of  Female  Culture  and  Accomplishments  m 
different  ages* 

AMONG  the  Greeks,  their  mothers  or 
other  female  relations  taught  young  ladies  the 
common  female  employments  and  customs 
of  their  country,  and  instilled  into  the  minds 
of  such  as  would  receive  it,  a  tincture  of  that 
stoical  pride  and  heroism,  for  which  their 
men  were  so  much  renowned.  In  every 
thing  else  they  were  very  deficient,  and  their 
constant  confinement  added  want  of  know- 
ledge of  the  world  to  their  want  of  education. 

In  the  earlier  periods  of  the  great  republic 
of  Rome,  the  Romans  being  poor,  and  sur- 
rounded with  rude  and  ferocious  neighbours 
like  themselves,  were  obliged  to  learn  rigid 
economy,  inflexible  patriotism,  and  the  art  of 
war.  These  are  all  virtues  of  necessity  in 
the  infancy  of  almost  every  state. 

The  duties  and  employments  of  domestic 


196  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

life,  such  as  cookery,  spinning,  weaving  and 
sewing,  were  taught  the  Reman  women  by 
their  mothers  or  relations.  These  also  super- 
intended not  only  their  serious  studies,  but 
even  their  amusements,  which  were  always 
conducted  with  decency  and  moderation. — 
But  when  the  Romans  became  rich  with  the 
plunder  of  their  neighbours,  the  taste  for  the 
arts  and  sciences  became  more  general.  The 
education  of  women,  therefore,  began  to  be 
extended  on  a  larger  scale.  To  the  domestic 
duties,  taught  them  by  their  mothers,  were 
added  such  parts  of  polite  education  as  were 
thought  necessary  for  cultivating  their  minds. 

Cicero  mentions  with  high  encomiums, 
several  ladies  whose  taste  in  eloquence  and 
philosophy  did  honor  to  their  sex  ;  and 
Quinctilian,  with  considerable  applause,  has 
quoted  some  of  the  letters  of  Cornelia. 

There  is  a  speech  of  Iiortensia,  preserved 
by  Appian,  which  for  elegance  of  language, 
and  justness  of  thought,  would  have  done 
honour  to  a  Cicero,  or  a  Demosthenes.  What 
gave  occasion  to  this  speech,  was  the  follow- 
ing circumstance:  the  triumvirs  of  Rome 
wanted  a  large  sum  of  money  for  carrying 
on  a  war,  and  having  met  with  great  diffi- 
culties in  raising  it,  they  drew  up  a  list  of 
fourteen  hundred  of  the  richest  of  the  ladies, 
intending  to  tax  them.  These  ladies,  after 
having  in  vain  tried  every  method  to  evade 
so  great  an  innovation,  at  last  chose  Horten- 
sia  for  their  speaker,  and  went  along  with  her 
to  the  market-place,  where  she  thus  addressed 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  i9j 

the  triumvirs,  while  they  were  administering 
justice: 

"  The  unhappy  women  you  see  here  im- 
ploring your  justice  and  bounty,  would  never 
have  presumed  to  appear  in  this  place,  had 
they  not  first  made  use  of  all  other  means 
which  their  natural  modesty  could  suggest  to 
them.  Though  our  appearing  may  seem 
contrary  to  the  rules  of  decency  prescribed  to 
our  sex,  which  we  have  hitherto  observed 
with  all  strictness ;  yet  the  loss  of  our  fathers, 
children,  brothers  and  husbands,  may  suffi- 
ciently excuse  us,  especially  when  their  un- 
happy deaths  are  made  a  pretence  for  our 
further  misfortunes.  You  pretend  they  had 
offended  and  provoked  you :  But  what  inju- 
ry have  we  women  done,  that  we  must  be 
impoverished?  If  we  are  blameable  as  the 
men,  why  do  you  not  proscribe  us  too? 
Have  we  declared  you  enemies  to  your  coun* 
try  ?  Have  we  suborned  your  soldiers,  rais- 
ed troops  against  you,  or  opposed  you  in  the 
pursuit  of  thosehonors  and  offices  which  you 
claim?  We  pretend  not  no  govern  the  re- 
public; nor  is  it  our  ambition  which  has 
drawn  the  present  misfortunes  on  our  heads. 
Empire,  dignities  and  honours  are  not  for  us. 
Why  should  we  then  contribute  to  a  war  in 
which  we  have  no  manner  of  interest  ? 

^  "  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  in  the  Carthagi- 
nian war,  our  mothers  assisted  the  republic, 
which  was,  at  that  time  reduced  to  the  utmost 
distress.  But  neither  their  houses,  their  lands, 
nor  their  moveables,  were  sold  for  that  ser- 
vice. Some  rings  and  a  few  jewels  furnished 


j93  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

the  supply.  Nor  was  it  constraint,  r.or  vio- 
lence, that  forced  these  from  them.  What 
they  contributed  was  the  voluntary  offering 
of  generosity. 

"  What  danger  at  present  threatens  Home? 
If  the  Gauls  or  Parthians  were  encamped  on 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  or  the  Anio,  you 
should  find  us  no  less  zealous  in  the  defence 
of  our  country  than  our  mothers  were  before 
us.  But  it  becomes  not  us;  and  we  are  re- 
solved that  we  will  not  be  any  way  concerned 
in  civil  war. 

"  Neither  Marius,  nor  Csesar,  nor  Pom- 
pey,  ever  thought  of  obliging  us  to  take  part 
in  the  domestic  troubles  which  their  ambition 
had  raised.  Even  Sylla  himself,  who  first 
set  up  tyranny  in  Rome,  never  harboured 
such  an  intention.  And  yet  you  assume  the 
glorious  title  of  Reformers  of  the  State  ! — a 
title  which  will  turn  to  your  eternal  infamy, 
if  without  the  least  regard  to  the  laws  of 
equity,  you  persist  in  your  wicked  resolution 
of  plundering  those  of  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes  who  have  given  you  no  just  cause  of 
offence." 

The  triumvirs  being  offended  at  the  bold- 
ness of  the  women,  ordered  them  to  be  dri- 
ven away.  But  the  populace  growing  tumul- 
tuous, they  were  afraid  of  an  insurrection* 
and  reduced  the  list  of  the  women  to  be  tax- 
ed, to  four  hundred. 

During  the  reign  of  chivalry  in  Europe, 
women  endeavoured  only  to  acquire  such  ac- 
complishments as  would  excite  heroes  to 
fight  for,  and  lovers  to  adore  them.     So  far 


THE  FAIR  SEX:.  199 

were  they  from  possessing  any  literary  attain- 
ments, that  they  could  hardly  read  the  lan- 
guage of  their  respective  countries. 

In  the  following  age  the  ladies  found  that 
the  same  arts  which  captivated  a  knight  clad 
in  armour  and  ignorance,  were  in  vain  prac- 
tised upon  the  enlightened  scholar  and  phi- 
losopher. Being  conscious,  therefore,  that 
the  way  to  please  the  men  was  to  seem  fond 
of  what  they  approved,  and  dislike  what  they 
they  disliked,  they  applied  themselves  to  let- 
ters and  philosophy,  hoping  to  keep  posses- 
sion,  by  their  talents,  of  what  they  had  gain- 
ed by  their  charms.  Though  these  mea- 
sures were  not  calculated  to  inspire  love,  and 
attract  the  heart,  and  consequently  did  not 
produce  the  effects  which  the  ladies  intended, 
yet  they  raised  them  in  that  period  to  a  pitch 
of  learning  unknown  in  any  other. 

A  love  of  gaiety,  expense  and  parade,  was 
introduced  into  Europe  by  the  immense  trea- 
sures of  gold  and  silver  imported  from  Ame- 
rica, after  the  discovery  and  conquest  of  that 
country  :  and,  perhaps,  by  the  still  greater 
riches  accumulated  by  commerce.  The 
French  took  the  lead  in  this  new  mode  of 
life,  and  soon  disseminated  it  all  over  Europe. 
The  education  of  their  women,  which  before 
consisted  in  reading  their  own  language,  and 
in  learning  needle-work,  was  by  degrees 
changed  to  vocal  and  instrumental  music, 
dancing  and  dressing  in  the  most  fashionable 
manner;  to  which  may  be  added  the  art  of 
captivating  and  governing  their  men.     This 


soo  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

flimsy  pattern  was  copied  by  every  other  na- 
tion. 

In  Asia  and  Africa  it  is  the  interest  of  the 
men  that  almost  no  culture  should  be  be- 
stowed on  the  minds  of  their  females,  lest  it 
should  teach  them  to  assert  their  rights  of 
nature,  and  refuse  to  submit  to  the  yoke  of 
bondage  so  unjustly  imposed  upon  them.—- 
They  are,  however,  taught  all  the  personal 
graces ;  and  particular  care  is  taken  to  in- 
struct them  in  the  art  of  conversing  with  ele- 
gance and  vivacity.  Some  of  them  are  also 
taught  to  write,  and  the  generality  to  read,  that 
they  may  be  able  to  read  the  Koran.  But, 
instead  of  this,  they  mere  frequently  spend 
their  time  in  reading  tales  and  romances; 
which*  being  related  in  all  the  lively  imagery 
of  the  east,  seldom  fail  to  corrupt  the  minds 
of  creatures  shut  up  from  the  world,  and 
consequently  forming  to  themselves  extrava- 
gant and  romantic  notions  of  all  that  is  trans- 
acted  in  it. 

Though  they  are  never  permitted  to  attend 
public  worship  in  a  mosque,  they  are  obliged 
to  learn  by  heart  some  prayers  in  Arabic, 
which  when  they  assemble  in  a  hall  at  cer- 
tain hours,  they  repeat.  They  are  enjoined 
always  to  wash  themselves  before  praying  • 
and  indeed,  the  virtues  of  cleanliness,  of  chas- 
tity and  obedience  are  so  strongly  and  con- 
stantly inculcated  on  their  minds,  that,  in 
spite  of  their  general  corruption  of  manners, 
there  are  several  among  them  who,  in  their 
common  deportment  do  credit  to  the  instruc- 
tions bestowed  noon  them.     This  indeed  is 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  201 

not  much  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  con- 
sider the  tempting  recompense  that  is  held 
out  to  them.  They  are,  in  paradise,  to  flour- 
ish  for  ever  in  the  vigor  of  youth  and  beauty ; 
and  however  old,  ugly  or  deformed  when 
they  depart  this  life,  are  there  to  be  immedi- 
ately transformed  into  all  that  is  fair,  and  all 
that  is  graceful. 

It  is  a  very  laborious  task  to  learn  to  read 
or  write  the  Chinese  language.  Even  among 
the  men,  it  seems  chiefly  confined  to  such  as 
aspire  after  employments  of  state.  Women 
are  seldom  much  instructed  in  it.  Such  as 
are  rich,  however,  learn  music,  the  modes  of 
behaviour,  and  ceremonial  punctilios  of  the 
country.  The  last  of  these  cannot  possibly 
be  dispensed  with.  A  failure  in  the  least 
circumstance,  as  the  number  of  bows,  or  the 
manner  of  making  them  to  a  superior,  would 
infallibly  stamp  the  mark  of  ignorance  on 
the  person  so  failing.  Women  arc,  in  general, 
also  taught  a  bashfulness  and  modesty  of  beha- 
viour not  to  be  met  with  in  any  other  coun- 
try. 

In  many  parts  of  North  America  they  ne- 
ver beat  their  children  of  either  sex.  This, 
they  say,  would  only  weaken  and  dispirit 
their  minds  without  producing  any  good  ef- 
fect. When,  therefore,  a  mother  sees  her 
daughter  behave  ill,  instead  of  having  rei 
course  to  a  rod,  she  falls  a- crying.  The  daugh- 
ter naturally  enquires  the  cause :  the  mother 
'answers,  because  you  disgrace  me.  This  re- 
proach seldom  fails  to  produce  an  amcLuW 
naeiit. 

&* 


202  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Gentle  treatment  of  children,  we  are  in- 
formed, is  absolutely  necessary.  The  pun- 
ishments inflicted  in  most  other  nations  only 
make  the  Japanese  more  stubborn  and  refrac- 
tory ;  and  sometimes  there,  as  well  as  in 
America,  provoke  them  to  commit  suicide. 

The  sum  of  what  has  been  said  is  this  : — 
The  education  of  women  in  Europe  is  per- 
haps too  much  calculated  to  inspire  them 
with  love  of  admiration,  of  trifling,  and  of 
amusement.  In  most  other  places  of  the 
globe  it  is  infinitely  worse.  It  tends  to  era- 
dicate every  moral  sentiment,  and  introduce 
vice  dressed  up  in  the  garb  of  voluptuous  re- 
finement. 

That  women  should  pour  out  their  fair 
eyes  in  becoming  adepts  in  learning,  would 
be  highly  rmproper.  Nature  seems  not  to 
have  intended  them  for  the  more  intense  and 
severe  studies.  The  gaining  of  the  laurels 
of  literary  fame  would  rob  their  brows  of 
many  of  those  charms  which  to  them  arc 
more  valuable,  as  they  are  by  men  more  es- 
teemed. Ignorance  makes  a  female  contempt- 
ible, pedantry  makes  her  ridiculous.  Both 
extremes  should  be  avoided. 


THE  FAIR  SEX!.  203 


CHAPTER  XLVL 

Of  the  necessary  Mental  Accomplishments  of 
Ladies. 

THE  degree  of  those  intellectual  accom- 
plishments which  women  should  aim  at,  it  is 
not  easy  to  determine.  That  must  depend 
on  the  capacities,  opportunities  and  encou- 
ragements which  they  severally  enjoy. 

History,  in  which  may  be  included  biogra- 
phy and  memoirs,  ought  to  employ  a  consi- 
derable share  of  female  attention.  Those 
pictures  which  it  exhibits  of  the  passions  ope- 
rating in  real  life,  and  genuine  characters  ;  of 
virtues  to  be  imitated,  and  of  vices  to  be 
shunned  ;  of  the  effects  of  both  on  society 
and  individuals  ;  of  the  mutability  of  human 
affairs  ;  of  the  conduct  of  divine  Providence  ; 
of  the  great  consequences  that  often  arise  from 
little  events;  of  the  weakness  of  power,  and 
the  wanderings  of  prudence  in  the  human  race  ; 
with  the  sudden,  unexpected,  and  frequently 
unaccountable  revolutions  that  dash  trium- 
phant wickedness,  or  disappoint  presumptu- 
ous hope — the  pictures  which  history  exhibits 
of  all  these  have  been  ever  reckoned  by  the 
best  judges,  among  the  richest  sources  of  in- 
struction and  entertainment. 

Voyages  and  Travels — too,  are  very  in- 
structive and  entertaining.  How  amusing 
are  they  to  the  curiosity,  how,  enlarging  to 
our  prospects  of  mankind  !  They  make  us 
usefully  inquisitive,  and  furnish  us  with  sub- 
jects of  reflection. 


zza  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

There  is  not  a  son  or  daughter  of  Adam 
who  has  not  occasion  for  Geography.  It  is 
often  useful  in  conversation  ;  and  a  compe- 
tent knowledge  of  it  may  be  acquired  with  lit- 
tle application,  but  much  amusement. 

The  principal  facts  or  great  outlines  of 
Astronomy  are  beautiful  as  well  as  improving. 

Some  of  them  present  the  most  interesting 
scenes.  All  contain  the  most  pleasing  disco- 
veries. They  open  and  enlarge  the  mind  ; 
they  dilate  and  humanize  the  heart  ;  they  re- 
mind us  that  we  are  citizens  of  the  universe  ; 
they  shew  us  how  small  a  part  we  fill  in  the 
immense  orb  of  being.  Amid  the  amplitude  of 
such  contemplations,  superfluous  titles  shrink 
away.  Wealth  and  grandeur  "  hide  their 
diminished  heads."  A  generous  ambition 
rises  in  the  thoughtful  mind,  to  approve  it- 
self to  the  all-inspecting  eye  of  Him  to  whom 
none  of  his  works  are  indifferent. 

In  Poetry  of  all  kinds,  but  chiefly  of  the 
sublimer  forms,  where  nature,  virtue,  and  re- 
ligion are  painted  and  embellished  with  all  the 
beauties  of  a  chaste,  yet  elevated  imagination 
what  a  field  is  opened  within  the  reach,  anda- 
dapted  to  the  turn  of  the  female  faculties  \ 
What  a  profusion  of  intellectual  ornament  is 
spread  before  them,  for  memory  to  collect, 
and  for  reflection  to  work  upon  !  How  many 
sprightly,  delightful,  and  lofty  ideas  do  here 
pass  before  the  mental  eye,  all  dressed  in  the 
brightest  colors  !  How  strangely  inexcusa- 
ble must  those  be  who  complain  at  any  time 
of  want  of  amusement,  when  the  genius  and 
invention  of  every  illuminated  age  have  taken 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  205 

such  happy  pains  to  supply  the  noblest.  To 
obtain  all  the  poetical  works  of  the  British 
Poets,  would  be  expensive  :  we  therefore 
would  recommend  a  judicious  choice  of  the 
many  volumes  published  of  Selections,  in 
particular  a  very  excellent  work  lately  (1807) 
published  for  Mr.  Bumstead,  viz.  "  Select 
Collection  of  Poems,  and  other  elegant  poeti- 
Gal  Extracts  by  the  most  celebrated  authors, 
from  Pope,  Goldsmith,  Blair,  Young,  Gray, 
Cow  per,  IFatts,  Pain  el,  More,  Rowe,"  i>c. 

How  much  are  both  sexes  indebted  to  the 
elegant  pens  of  the  Spectator,  Rambler,  Ad- 
venturer, Connoisseur,  Idler,  &c.  for  a  spe- 
cies of  instruction  better  fitted  perhaps,  than 
most  others  of  human  device,  to  delight  and 
improve  at  the  same  moment  !  Suh  is  its 
extent,  its  diversity,  its  familiarity,  its  ease, 
its  playful  manner,  its  immediate  reference  to 
scenes  and  circumstances  with  which  we  are 
every  day  conversant. 

There  are  very  few  novels  that  can  be  read 
with  safety  ;  and  fewer  still  that  convey  any 
useful  instruction.  But  as  ladies  will  read 
novels,  the  best  and  most  innocent  produc- 
tions of  this  kind  are  those  of  Richardson, 
Cumberland,  Miss  Burnet/ ;  Mrs.  Helmets 
Louisa,  and  Miss  Blower's  Features  from 
Life  ;  Caroline  of  Litchfield,  the  Vicar  of 
Wakefield,  and  a  few  others. 

The  most  obvious  branches  both  of  Natu- 
ral Philosophy,  and  Natural  History,  should 
engage  at  least,  some  portion  of  our  time. 
That  they  are  so  seldom  and  so  slightly  tho't 
of,  is  rather  a  melancholy  reflection.     Does 


2o6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

creation,  through  her  infinitely  extended  and 
infinitely  deversified  scenery  display  innume- 
rable wonders  ?  Have  these  been  traced 
with  skill  and  accuracy  by  many  learned  and 
many  laborious  hands  ?  Are  they  laid  open 
to  us,  and  almost  pressed  upon  us  from  every 
quarter  ?  And  can  we,  with  a  giddy  eye,  turn 
away  from  this  noble  and  entertaining  specta- 
cle, to  gaze  on  the  meanest  ornament  of  beau- 
ty, or  the  silliest  pageant  of  vanity  ? 

The  French  and  Italian,  as  well  as-  the  La-' 
tin  and  Greek  languages,  may  be  read  by  the 
fair  sex  with  much  pleasure  and  advantage. 
By  these  means  their  taste  will  be  improved, 
and  a  never-failing  source  of  instruction  will 
be  opened.  Several  ladies  of  rank  and  fashion, 
of  the  present  day,  make  Virgil  and  Homer 
their  companions,  two  or  three  mornings  eve- 
ry week. 

One  half  hour,  or  more,  either  before  or 
immediately  after  breakfast,  should  be  con- 
stantly devoted  to  the  attentive  perusal  of  some 
part  ollloly  Writ,  It  is  the  basis  on  which 
our  religion  is  founded.  From  this  practice 
more  real  benefit  will  be  reaped  than  can  be 
supposed  by  those  who  have  never  made  the 
experiment. 

The  scriptures  present  religion  to  us  in  the 
most  engaging  dress.  They  communicate 
truths  which  philosophy  could  never  investi- 
gate, and  in  a  style  winch  poetry  can  never 
equal.  Calculated  alike  to  profit  and  to  please, 
they  inform  the  understanding,  elevate  the 
affections,  and  entertain  the  imagination.  In- 
dicted under  the   influence  of  that  Being  to 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  207 

whom  all  hearts  are  'known,  and  all  events 
foreknown,  they  suit  mankind  in  all  situations* 
grateful  as  the  manna  that  descend-,  d  fi  oin  a- 
bove,  and  suited  to  every  palate  An  Eliza 
Howe,  an  Hannah  More  have  li'  ed  and  died 
as  pious  and  amiable  ornaments  i>r  the  sex  : 
Let  them  have  many  followers. 

The  fairest  productions  of  human  wit,  af- 
ter a  f^w  perusals  like  gathered  fio', vers,  wither 
in  our  .hands,  and  lose  their  fragrance  :  Is  it 
so  with  the  sacred  pages?  No,  indeed — To 
the  heaven- born  soul,  to  one  who  has  been 
if  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his  mind,"  who 
has  "  passed  from  death  unto  life,"  (and  to 
such  a  character  only  will  the  observation  ap- 
ply) the  scriptures  are  unfading  plants  of  pa- 
radise— the  more  they  are  attended  to  by  such 
a  character,  the  more  beautiful  they  will  ap- 
pear. They  are  the  "  joy  and  the  rejoicing 
of  their  heart."  Their  bloom  appears  to  be 
daily  heightened.  Fresh  odours  are  diffused, 
and  new  sweets  extracted  from  them.  "  In 
commending-  to  your  care  this  Standard"  (in 
the  elegant  address  of  a  lady  to  ^military  com- 
pany) "  we  commit  to  your  sacred  keeping 
cur  virtue,  our  honor,  and  our  Holy  Faith  !" 

The  scriptures  have  been  studied  and  ad- 
mired by  the  greatest  and  best  of  men,  as  well 
as  women.  Whatever  instruction  or  amuse- 
ment may  be  derived  from  human  composi- 
tions, let  it  always  be  remembered  that  the 
sacred  writings  alone  contain  that  wisdom, 
"  which  maketh  wise  unto  salvation." 

Controversy  on  religious  subjects  should 
seldom  or  never  be  meddled  with.     Such 


ao8  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

books  ought  to  be  read  as  are  addressed  to 
the  Heart,  which  inspire  pious  and  devout  af- 
fections, and  tend  to  regulate  the  conduct. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

Of  the  Monastic  Life. 

THE  venerable  Bede  has  given  us  a  very 
striking  picture  of  Monastic  enormities,  in 
his  epistle  to  Egbert.  From  this  we  learn 
that  many  young  men  who  had  no  title  to  the 
monastic  profession,  got  possession  of  monas- 
teries :  where,  instead  of  engaging  in  the  de- 
fence of  their  country,  as  their  age  and  rank 
required,  they  indulged  themselves  in  the 
most  dissolute  indolence. 

We  learn  from  Dugdale,  that  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  the  Second,  the  nuns  of  Amsbury 
abbey  in  Wiltshire  were  expelled  from  that 
religious  house  on  account  of  their  inconti- 
nence. And  to  exhibit  in  the  most  lively  co- 
lors the  total  corruption  of  monastic  chastity, 
Bishop  Burnet  informs  us  in  his  "  History  of 
the  reformation,"  that  when  the  nunneries 
were  visited  by  the  command  of  Henry  the 
VIII,  "  whole  houses  almost,  were  found 
whose  vows  had  been  made  in  vain.5' 

When  we  consider  to  what  oppressive  in- 
dolence, to  what  a  variety  of  wretchedness 
and  guilt,  the  young  and  fair  inhabitants  of 
the  cloister  were  frequently  betrayed,  we 
ought  to  admire  those  benevolent  authors 
who,  when  the  tide  of  religious  prejudice  ran 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  209 

very  strong  in  favor  of  monastic  virginity, 
had  spirit  enough  to  oppose  the  torrent,  and 
to  caution  the  devout  and  tender  sex  against 
so  dangerous  a  profession.  It  is  in  this  point 
of  view  that  the  character  of  Erasmus  appears 
with  the  most  amiable  lustre  ;  and  his  name 
ought  to  be  eternally  dear  to  the  female  world 
in  particular.  Though  his  studies  and  con- 
stitution led  him  almost  to  idolize  those  elo- 
quent fathers  of  the  church  who  have  magni- 
fied this  kind  of  life,  his  good  sense  and  his 
accurate  survey  of  the  human  race,  enabled 
him  to  judge  of  the  misery  in  which  female 
youth  was  continually  involved  by  a  precipi 
tate  choice  of  the  veil.  He  knew  the  success- 
ful arts  by  which  the  subtle  and  rapacious 
monks  inveigled  young  women  of  opulent  fa- 
milies into  the  cloister  ;  and  he  exerted  his 
lively  and  delicate  wit  in  opposition  to  so  per- 
nicious an  evil. 

The  writings  of  many  eminent  authors 
have  been  levelled  against  the  abuses  of  the 
monastic  life.  But  several  of  these,  like  the 
noted  works  of  the  humorous  Rabelais,  ap- 
pear to  have  flowed  from  a  spirit  as  wanton 
and  licentious  as  ever  lurked  in  a  convent.  It 
is  not  thus  with  Erasmus.  His  productions 
are  written  with  admirable  pleasantry,and  seem 
to  have  been  dictated  by  a  chaste  desire  to 
promote  the  felicity  of  the  fair  sex. 

In  those  nations  of  Europe  where  minne* 

ries  still  exist,  how  many  lovely  victims  are 

continually  sacrificed  to  the  avarice  or  absurd 

ambition  of  inhuman  parents  !     The  misery 

T 


210  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OK 

of  these  victims  has  been  painted  with  great 
force  by  some  benevolent  writers  of  France. 
In  most  of  those  pathetic  histories  that  are 
founded  on  the  abuse  of  convents,  the  misery 
originates  from  the  parent,  and  falls  upon  the 
child.  The  reverse  has  sometimes  happen- 
ed ;  and  there  are  examples  of  unhappy  pa- 
rents, who  have  been  rendered  miserable  by 
the  religious  perversity  of  a  daughter.  In  the 
fourteenth  volume  of  that  very  amusing  work, 
Les  Causes  Celebres,  a  work  which  is  said  to 
have  been  the  favorite  reading  of  Voltaire,, 
there  is  a  striking  history  of  a  girl  under  age, 
who  was  tempted  by  pious  artifices  to  settle 
herself  in  a  convent,  in  express  opposition  to 
parental  authority.  Her  parents,  who  had  in 
vain  tried  the  most  tender  persuasion,  endea- 
voured at  last  to  redeem  their  lost  child,  by  a 
legal  process  against  the  nunnery  in  which  she 
was  imprisoned.  The  pleadings  on  this  re- 
markable trial  may,  perhaps,  be  justly  reckon- 
ed among  the  finest  pieces  of  eloquence  that 
the  lawyers  of  France  have  produced.  Mon- 
sieur Gillet,  the  advocate  for  the  parents,  re- 
presented, in  the  boldest  and  most  affecting 
language,  the  extreme  baseness  of  this  religi- 
gious  seduction.  His  eloquence  appeared  to 
have  fixed  the  sentiments  of  the  judges  ;  but 
the  cause  of  superstition  was  pleaded  by  an 
advocate  of  equal  power,  and  it  finally  pre- 
vailed. The  unfortunate  parents  of  Maria 
Vernal  (for  this  was  the  name  of  the  unfortu- 
nate girl)  were  condemned  to  resign  her  for 
ever,  and  to  make  a  considerable  payment  to 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  211 

those  artful  devotees  who  had  piously  robbed 
them  of  their  child. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  various  evils  that 
ha\re  arisen  in  convents,  we  have  the  strongest 
reason  to  rejoice  and  glory  in  that  reforma- 
tion by  which  the  nunneries  of  England  were 
abolished.  Yet  it  would  not  be  caadid  or  just 
to  consider  all  these  as  the  mere  harbours  of 
licentiousness  ;  since  we  are  told  that,  at  the 
time  of  their  suppression,  some  of  our  religi- 
ous houses  were  very  honorably  distinguish- 
ed by  the  purity  of  their  inhabitants.  tl  The 
visitors,"  says  Bishop  Burnett,  "  interceded 
earnestly  for  a  nunnery  in  Oxfordshire,  God- 
stow,  where  there  was  great  strictness  of  life, 
and  to  which  most  of  the  young  gentlewo- 
men of  the  country  were  sent  to  be  bred  ;  so 
that  the  gentry  of  the  country  desired  the  king 
would  spare  the  house  :  yet  all  was  ineffectu- 
al.' ■ 

In  this  point  of  view,  much  undoubtedly, 
may  be  said  in  favour  of  convents.  Yet  when 
the  arguments  on  both  sides  are  fairly  weigh- 
ed, it  is  presumed,  that  every  true  friend  to  fe- 
male innocence  will  rejoice  in  those  sensible 
regulations  which  our  Catholic  neighbors  have 
lately  made  respecting  nunneries,  and  which 
seem  to  promise  their  universal  abolition. 

As  convents,  for  many  ages,  were  the 
treasures  of  all  the  learning  that  remained  up- 
on earth,  one  is  rather  surprized  to  find  so 
few  monastic  ladies,  who  have  bequeathed  to 
the  world  any  literary  production.  Perhaps, 
indeed,  many  a  fair  and  chaste  author  has  ex- 


212  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

isted,  whose  name  and  works,  have  been  un- 
justly buried  in  sudden  oblivion. 

Juana  Inez  de  la  Cruz,  a  native  of  die  New 
Hemisphere,  was  so  eminent  for  her  poetical 
talents,  that  she  had  been  honoured  with  the 
title  of  a  Tenth  Muse. 

A  short  account  of  this  lady,  not  much 
known  ffi  Europe,  with  a  specimen  of  her  po- 
etry, will  no  doubt  be  acceptable  to  female 
readers. 

Juana  was  born  in  November  1651,  at  the 
distance  of  a  few  leagues  from  the  city  of  Mex- 
ico. Her  father  was  one  of  the  many  Spa- 
nish gentlemen,  who  sought  to  improve  a 
scanty  fortune  by  an  establishment  in  Ameri- 
ca, where  he  married  a  lady  of  that  country, 
descended  from  Spanish  parents.  Their 
daughter  Juana  was  distinguished  in  her  in- 
fancy by  an  uncommon  passion  for  literature, 
and  a  wonderful  felicity  in  the  composition  of 
Spanish  verses.  Her  parents,  sent  her,  when 
she  was  eight  years  old,  to  reside  with  her  un- 
cle in  the  city  of  Mexico.  She  had  there  the 
advantage  of  a  learned  education  ;  and,  as 
her  extraordinary  talents  attracted  universal 
regard,  she  was  patronised  by  the  lady  of  the 
viceroy,  the  Marquis  de  Mancera,  and,  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  was  received  into  his  family. 
A  Spanish  economist  of  Juana  relates  a  re- 
markable anecdote,  which,  he  says,  was  com- 
municated to  him  by  the  viceroy  himself. 
That  nobleman,  astonished  by  the  extensive 
learning  of  young  Juana,  invited  forty  of  the 
jnost  eminent  literati  that  his  country  could 
afford,  to  try  the  extent  and  solidity  ofluana's 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  213 

erudition.  The  young  female  scholar  was 
freely  but  politely  questioned,  on  the  differ- 
ent  branches  of  science,  by  theologians,  philo- 
sophers, mathematicians,  historians,  and  po- 
ets ;  "  and  as  a  royal  galleon,"  says  our  Spa- 
nish author,  "  would  defend  herself  against  a 
few  shallops  that  might  attack  her,  so  did  Ju- 
ana  Inez  extricate  herself  from  the  various 
questions,  arguments  and  rejoinders,  that  each 
in  his  own  province  proposed  to  her." 

The  applause  which  she  received,  on  this 
signal  display  of  her  accomplishments,  was 
far  from  inspiring  the  modest  Juana  with  va- 
nity  or   presumption.     Indeed,  a  pious  hu- 
mility was  her  most  striking  characteristic. 
Her  life  amounted  only  to  forty-four  years  ; 
and  of  these  she  passed  twenty-seven,  distin- 
guished by  the  most  exemplary  exercise  of 
all  the  religious  virtues,  in  the  convent  of  St. 
Geronimo.     Her  delight  in  books  was  ex- 
treme,  and  she  is  said  to  have  possessed  a  li. 
brary  of  four  thousand  volumes  ;  but  towards 
thQ  close  of  her  life  she  made  a  striking  sacri- 
fice to  charity,  by  selling  her  darling   books 
for    the   relief  of  the   poor.      Few    female 
authors  have  been  more    celebrated  in  life, 
or   in   death    more  lamented..    The    collec- 
tion of  her  works,  in  three  quarto  volumes, 
contains  a  number  of  panegyrics,  in  verse  and 
prose,  bestowed  on  this  chaste  poetess  by  the 
most   illustrious  characters  both  of  Old  and 
New  Spain.     The  raost  sensible  of  the  Spa- 
nish critics,  Father   Feyjoo^  has  made  this 
general  remark    on  Juana's   compositions— 
£  lhat  they  excel  in  ease  an  elegance,  but  art 
T  * 


214  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

deficient  in  energy  ;"  a  failing  the  more  re- 
markable, as  the  pious  enthusiasm  of  this  po- 
etical nun  was  so  great,  that  she  wrote  in  her 
own  blood  a  profession  of  her  own  faith.  It 
may  be  observed,  however,  in  answer  to  her 
critic,  that  most  of  Juana's  verses  are  written 
on  subjects,  where  poetical  energy  was  not  to 
be  expected.  Many  of  her  poems  are  occa- 
sional compliments  to  her  particular  friends  ; 
and  in  her  sacred  dramas,  the  absurd  super- 
stitions of  her  country  were  sufficient  to  anni- 
hilate all  poetical  sublimity. 

In  one  of  her  short  productions,  she  ascribes 
the  injustice  of  men  towards  her  own  sex.  An 
imitation  of  this  performance,  in  English,  is 
as  follows : 

"  Weak  men  !   who  without  reason  aim 
To  load  poor  woman  with  abuse, 
Not  seeing  that  yourselves  produce 
The  very  evils  that  you  blame  ; 
You  'gainst  her  firm  resistance  strive  ; 
And,  having  struck  her  judgment  mute, 
Soon  to  her  levity  impute 
What  from  your  labour  you  derive. 

Of  woman's  weakness  much  afraid, 
Of  your  own  prowess  still  you  boast  ; 
Like  the  vain  child  who  makes  a  ghost, 
Then  fears  what  he  himself  has  made. 

Her,  whom  your  arms  have  once  em- 
braced, 
You  think  presumptuously  to  find, 
When  she  is  woo'd,  as  Thais  kind, 
When  wedded  as  Lucretia  chaste. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  215 

How  rare  a  fool  must  he  appear, 
Whose  folly  mounts  to  such  a  pass, 
That  first  he  breathes  upon  the  glass, 
Then  grieves  because  it  is  not  clear  ! 

Still  with  unjust,  ungrateful  pride, 
You  meet  both  favour  and  disdain  ; 
The  firm  as  cruel  you  arraign, 
The  tender  you  as  weak  deride. 

Your  foolish  humour  none  can  please  ; 
Since,  judging  all  with  equal  phlegm, 
One  for  her  rigor  you  condemn, 
And  one  you  censure  for  her  ease. 

What  wond'rous  gifts  must  her  adorn, 
Who  would  your  lasting  love  engage, 
When  rigorous  nymphs  excite  your  rage, 
And  easy  fair  ones  raise  your  scorn  ! 

But  while  you  shew  your  pride  or  power, 
With  tyrant  passions  vainly  hot, 
She's  only  blest  who  heeds  you  not, 
And  leaves  you  all  in  happy  hour." 


CHAPTER  XLVIIL 

Of  the  Degrees  of  Sentimental  Attachment 
at  different  Periods. 

IN  the  earlier  ages,  sentiment  in  love  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  much  attended  to. 
When  Abraham  sent  his  servant  to  court  a 
bride  for  his  son  Isaac,  we  do  not  so  much  as 
hear  that  Isaac  was  consulted  on  the  matter : 


2i6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

nor  is  there  even  a  suspicion,  that  he  might 
refuse  or  dislike  the  wife  which  his  father  had 
selected  for  him. 

From  the  manner  in  which  Rebecca  was 
solicited,  we  learn,  that  women  were  not  then 
courted  in  person  by  the  lover,  but  by  a  proxy, 
whom  he,  or  his  parents,  deputed  m  his  stead. 
We  likewise  see,  that  this  proxy  did  not,  in 
modern  times,  endeavour  to  gain  the  affection 
of  the  lady  he  was  sent  to,  by  enlarging  on  the 
personal  properties,  and  mental  qualifications 
of  the  lover  ;  but  by  the  richness  and  magni- 
ficence of  the  presents  he  made  to  her  and 
her  relations. 

Presents  have  been,  from  the  earliest  ages, 
and  are  to  this  day  the  mode  of  transacting 
all  kinds  of  business  in  the  East.  When  a 
favour  is  to  be  asked  of  a  superior,  one  can- 
not hope  to  obtain  it  without  a  present.  Court- 
ship, therefore,  having  been  anciently  trans- 
acted in  this  manner,  it  is  plain,  that  it  wras 
only  considered  in  the  same  light  as  any  other 
negotiable  business,  and  not  as  a  matter  of 
sentiment,  and  of  the  heart. 

In  the  courtship,  however,  or  rather  pur- 
chase of  a  wife  by  Jacob,  we  meet  with  some- 
thing like  sentiment  ;  for  when  he  found  that 
he  was  not  possessed  of  money  or  goods,  e- 
qual  to  the  price  which  was  probably  set  up- 
on her,  he  not  only  condescended  to  purchase 
her  by  servitude,  but  even  seemed  much  dis- 
appointed when  the  tender-eyed  Leah  was 
faithlessly  imposed  upon  him  instead  of  the. 
beautiful  Rachel. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  217 

The  ancient  Gauls,  Germans,  and  neigh- 
boring nations  of  the  North,  had  so  much  ve- 
neration for  the  sex  in  general,  that  in  court- 
ship the}'  behaved  with  a  spirit  of  gallantry, 
and  shewed  a  degree  of  sentiment,  to  which 
those  who  called  them  Barbarians,  never  arriv- 
ed. Not  contented  with  getting  possession 
of  the  person  of  his  mistress,  a  northern  lover 
could  not  be  satisfied  without  the  sincere  af- 
fection of  her  heart ;  nor  was  his  mistress  ever 
to  be  gained  but  by  such  methods  as  plainly 
indicated  to  her  the  tenderest  attachment 
from  the  most  deserving  man. 

The  women  of  Scandinavia  were  not  to  be 
courted  but  by  the  most  assiduous  attendance, 
seconded  by  such  warlike  at  enlevements  as 
the  custom  of  the  country  had  rendered  ne- 
cessary to  make  a  man  deserving  of  his  mis- 
tress. On  these  accounts,  we  frequently  find 
a  lover  accosting  the  object  of  his  passion  by 
a  minute  and  circumstantial  detail  of  all  his 
exploits,  and  all  his  accomplishments.  "  We 
fought  with  swords,"  says  King  Rcgner,  in 
a  beautiful  ode  composed  by  himself,  in  me- 
mory of  the  deeds  of  his  former  days,  "  that 
day  wherein  I  saw  ten  thousand  of  my  foes 
rolling  in  the  dust,  near  a  promontory  of  En- 
gland. A  dew  of  blood  distilled  from  our 
swords.  The  arrows  which  flew  in  search  of 
the  helmets,  bellowed  through  the  air.  The 
pleasure  of  that  day  was  truly  exquisite. 

We  fought  with  swords.  A  young  man 
shoulcl  march  early  to  the  conflict  of  arms. 
Man  should  attack  man,  or  bravely  resist  him. 
In  this  hath  always  consisted  the  nobility  q£ 


2iB  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

the  warrior.  He  who  aspires  to  the  lovre  of 
his  mistress,  ought  to  be  dauntless  in  the  clash 
of  swords. 

The  descendants  of  the  northern  nations, 
long  after  they  had  plundered  and  repeopled 
the  greatest  part  of  Europe,  retained  nearly 
the  same  ideas  of  love,  and  practised  the  same 
methods  in  declaring  it,  that  they  had  imbib- 
ed from  their  ancestors.  "  Love,"  says  Wil- 
liam of  Montagnogout,  "  engages  tti  the 
most  amiable  conduct.  Love  inspires  the 
greatest  actions.  Love  has  no  will  but  that 
of  the  object  beloved,  nor  seeks  any  thing  but 
what  will  augment  her  glory.  You  cannot 
love,  nor  ought  to  be  beloved,  if  you  ask  any 
thing  that  virtue  condemns*  Never  did  I 
form  a  wish  that  could  wound  the  heart  of 
my  beloved,  nor  delight  in  a  pleasure  that  was 
inconsistent  with  her  delicacy." 

The  method  of  addressing  females,  among 
some  of  the  tribes  of  American  Indians,  is 
the  most  simple  that  possibly  can  be  devised. 
When  the  lover,  goes  to  visit  his  mistress,  he 
only  begs  leave,  by  signs,  to  enter  her  hut. — 
After  obtaining  this,  he  goes  in*  and  sits 
down  by  her  in  the  most  respectful  silence. 
If  she  suffers  him  to  remain  there  without 
interruption,  her  doing  so  is  consenting  to" 
his  suit.  If,  however x  the  lover  has  any 
thing  given  him  to  eat  and  drink,  it  is  a  re- 
fusal ;  though  the  woman  is  obliged  to  sit  by 
him  until  he  has  finished  his  repast.  He  then 
retires  in  silence. 

In  Canada,  courtship  is  not  carried  on  with 
that  coy  reserve,  and  seeming  secrecy,  which 


THE  FAIR  SEX. 


219 


politeness  has  introduced  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  civilized  nations.  When  a  man  and 
woman  meet,  though  they  never  saw  each 
other  before,  if  he  is  captivated  with  her 
charms,  he  declares  his  passion  in  the  plainest 
manner;  and  she,  with  tire  same  simplicity, 
answers,  Yes,  or  No,  without  further  delibe- 
ration. "  That  female  reserve,"  says  an  hi- 
genious  writen,*  "  that  seeming  reluctance  to 
enter  into  the  married  state,  observable  in  po- 
lite countries,  is  the  work  of  art,  and  not  of 
nature.  The  history  of  every  uncultivated 
people  amply  proves  it.  It  tells  us,  that  their 
women  not  only  speak  with  freedom  the  sen- 
timents of  their  hearts,  but  even  blush  not  to 
have  these  sentiments  made  as  public  as  pos- 
sible." 

In  Formosa,  however,  they  differ  so  much 
from  the  simplicity  of  the  Canadians,  that  it 
would  be  reckoned  the  greatest  indecency  in 
the  map.  to  declare,  or  in  the  woman  to  hear, 
a  declaration  of  the  passion  of  love.  The 
lover  is,  therefore,  obliged  to  depute  his  mo- 
ther, sister,  or  some  female  relation ;  and 
from  any  of  these  the  soft  tale  may  be  heard 
without  the  least  offence  to  delicacy. 

In  Spain,  the  women  had  formerly  no  voice 
in  disposing  of  themselves  in  matrimony. — 
But  as  the  empire  of  common  sense  began  to 
extend  itself,  they  began  to  claim  privi- 
lege, at  least  of  being  consulted  in  the  choice 
of  the  partners  of  their  lives.  Many  fathers 
and  guardians,  hurt  by  this  female  innovation, 

*  Dr.  Alexander. 


220  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

and  puffed  up  with  Spanish  pride,  still  insist- 
ed on  forcing  their  daughters  to  marry  ac- 
cording to  their  pleasure,  by  means  of  duen- 
nas, locks,  hunger  and  even  sometimes  of 
poison  and  daggers.  But  as  nature  will  re- 
volt agairisl  every  species  of  oppression  and 
injustice,  the  ladies  have  for  some  time  be- 
gun to  assort  their  own  rights.  The  author- 
ity of  fathers  and  guardians  begins  to  decline, 
and  lovers  find  themselves  obliged  to  apply 
to  the  affections  of  the  fair,  as  well  as  to  the 
pride  and  avarice  of  their  relations. 

The  nightly  musical  serenades  of  mistress- 
es by  their  lovers  are  still  in  use.  The  gallant 
composes  some  love  sonnets,  as  expressive 
as  he  can,  not  only  of  the  situation  of  his 
heart,  but  of  every  particular  circumstance 
between  him  and  the  lady,  not  forgetting  to 
lard  them  with  the  most  extravagant  enco- 
miums on  her  beauty  and  merit.  These  he 
sings  in  the  night  below  her  window  accom- 
panied with  his  lute,  or  sometimes  with  a 
whole  band  of  music.  The  more  piercing- 
cold  the  air,  the  more  the  lady's  heart  is  sup^ 
posed  to  be  thawed  with  the  patient  suffer- 
ance of  her  lover,  who,  from  night  to  night, 
frequently  continues  this  exercise  for  many 
hours,  heaving  the  deepest  sighs,  and  casting 
the  most  piteous  looks  towards  the  window ; 
at  which  if  his  goddess  at  last  deigns  to  ap- 
pear, and  drops  him  a  courtesy,  he  is  super- 
latively paid  for  all  his  watching ;  but  if  she 
blesses  him  with  a  smile,  he  is  ready  to  run 
distracted. 


THE  FAIR  SSX.  22£ 

In  Italy  the  manner  of  addressing  the  la- 
dies, so  far  as  it  relates  to  serenading,  nearly 
resembles  that  of  Spain.  The  Italian,  h owe- 
ever,  goes  a  step  farther  than  the  Spaniard. 
He  endeavors  to  blockade  the  house  where  his 
fair  one  lives,  so  as  to  prevent  the  entrance  of 
any  rival.  If  he  marries  the  lady  who  cost 
him  all  this  trouble  and  attendance,  he  shuts 
her  up  for  life :  If  not,  she  becomes  the  ob- 
ject of  his  eternal  hatred,  and  he  too  frequent- 
ly endeavours  to  revenge  by  poison  the  suc- 
cess of  his  happier  rival. 

In  one  circumstance  relating  to  courtship, 
the  Italians  are  said  to  be  particular.  They 
protract  the  time  of  it  as  long  as  possible, 
well  knowing  that,  even  with  all  the  little  ills 
attending  it,  a  period  thus  employed  is  one 
of  the  sweetest  of  human  life. 

A  French  lover,  with  the  word  sentiment 
perpetually  in  his  mouth,  seems  by  every  ac- 
tion to  have  excluded  it  from  his  heart.  *  He 
places  his  whole  confidence  in  his  exterior 
air  and  appearance.  He  dresses  for  his  mis- 
tress, dances  for  her,  flutters  constantly  about 
her,  helps  her  to  lay  on  her  rouge,  and  to 
place  her  patches.  He  attends  her  round  the 
whole  circle  of  amusements,  chatters  to  her 
constantly,  whistles  and  sings,  and  plays  the 
fool  with  her.  Whatever  be  his  station,  every 
thing  gaudy  and  glittering  within  the  sphere 
of  "it  is  called  in  to  his  assistance,  particularly 
splendid  carriages  and  tawdry  liveries;  but 
if,  by  the  help  of  all  these,  he  cannot  make 
an  impression  on  the  fair  one's  heart,  it  costs 
him  nothing  but  a  few  shrugs  of  his  shoul- 
V 


222  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

tiers,  two  or  three  silly  exclamations,  and  as 
many  stanzas  of  some  satirical  song  against 
her ;  and,  as  it  is  impossible  for  a  Frenchman 
to  live  without  an  amour,  he  immediately  be- 
takes himself  to  another. 

There  is  hardly  any  such  thing  among  peo- 
ple of  fashion  as  courtship.  Matters  are 
generally  so  ordered  by  parents  and  guardians 
that  to  a  bride  and  bridegroom  the  day  of 
marriage  is  often  the  second  time  of  their 
meeting.  In  many  countries,  to  be  married 
in  this  manner  would  be  reckoned  the  greatest 
of  misfortunes.  In  France  it  is  little  regard- 
ed. In  the  fashionable  world  few  people  arc 
greater  strangers  to,  or  more  indifferent  about 
each  other,  than  husband  and  wife ;  and  any 
appearance  of  fondness  between  them,  or 
their  being  seen  frequently  together,  would 
infallibly  make  them  forfeit  the  reputation  of 
the  ton,  and  be  laughed  at  by  all  polite  com- 
pany. On  this  account,  nothing  is  more 
common  than  to  be  acquainted  with  a  lady 
without  knowing  her  husband,  or  visiting  the 
husband  without  ever  seeing  his  wife. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

A  View  of  Matrimony  in  three  different  lights. 

THE  marriage  life  is  always  an  insipid,  a 
vexatious,  or  an  happy  condition.  The  first 
is,  when  two  people  of  no  taste  meet  together, 
upon  such  a  settlement  as  has  been  thought 
reasonable  by  parents  and  conveyancers,  from 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  223 

an  exact  valuation  of  the  land  and  cash  of 
both  parties.  In  this  case,  the  young  lady's 
person  is  no  more  regarded  than  the  house 
and  improvements  in  purchase  of  an  estate  ; 
but  she  goes  with  her  fortune,  rather  than  her 
fortune  with  her.  These  make  up  the  crowd 
or  vulgar  of  the  rich,  and  fill  up  the  lumber 
of  the  human  race,  without  beneficence  to- 
wards those  below  them,  or  respect  towards 
those  above  them ;  and  lead  a  despicable,  in- 
dependent and  useless  life,  without  sense  of 
the  laws  of  kindness,  good  nature,  mutual 
offices,  and  the  elegant  satisfactions  which 
flow  from  reason  and  virtue. 

The  vexatious  life  arises  from  a  conjunc- 
tion of  two  people  of  quick  taste  and  resent- 
ment, put  together  for  reasons  well  known  to 
their  friends,  in  which  especial  care  is  taken 
to  avoid  (what  they  think  the  chief  of  evils) 
poverty;  and  ensure  to  them  riches,  with 
every  evil  besides.  These  good  people  live 
in  a  constant  constraint  before  company,  and 
when  alone,  revile  each  other's  person  and 
conduct.  In  company,  they  are  in  purgato- 
ry ;  when  by  themselves,  in  hell. 

The  happy  marriage  is,  where  two  persons 
meet,  and  voluntarily  make  choice  of  each 
other,  without  principally  regarding  or  ne- 
glecting the  circumstances  of  fortune  or  beau- 
ty. These  may  still  love  in  spite  of  adversity 
or  sickness.  The  former,  we  may,  in  some 
measure,  defend  ourselves  from,  the  other  is 
the  common  lot  of  humanity.  Love  has  no- 
thing to  do  with  riches  or  state.     Solitude, 


224  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

with  the  person  beloved,  has  a  pleasure,  even 
in  a  woman's  mind,  beyond  show  or  pomp. 


CHAPTER  L. 

Of  Betrothing  and  Marriage. 

AT  a  very  early  period  families  who  lived 
in  a  friendly  manner,  fell  upon  a  method  of 
securing  their  children  to  each  other  by  what 
is  called  in  the  sacred  writings  betrothing. — 
This  was  agreeing  on  a  price  to  be  paid  for 
the  bride,  the  time  when  it  should  be  paid, 
and  when  she  should  be  delivered  into  the 
hands  of  her  husband. 

There  were,  according  to  the  Talmudists, 
three  ways  of  betrothing.  The  first  by  a 
written  contract.  The  second,  by  a  verbal 
agreement,  accompanied  with  a  piece  of  mo- 
ney. And  the  third,  by  the  parties  coming 
together,  and  living  as  husband  and  wife ; 
which  might  have  been  as  properly  called 
marriage  as  betrothing. 

The  written  contract  was  in  the  following 
manner — "  On  such  a  day,  month  and  yeai , 
A  the  son  of  B  has  said  to  D  the  daughter  of 
E,  be  thou  my  spouse  according  to  the  law 
of  Moses  and  of  the  Israelites  ;  and  I  will 
give  thee  as  a  dowry,  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
suzims,  as  it  is  ordered  by  our  law.  And  the 
said  D  hath  promised  to  be  his  spouse  upon 
the  conditions  aforesaid,  which  the  said  A 
doth  promise  to  perform  on  the  day  of  mar- 
riage.    And  to  this  the  said  A  doth  hereby 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  225 

bind  himself  and  all  that  he  hath,  jto  the  very- 
cloak  upon  his  back;  engages  himself  to 
love,«  honour,  feed,  clothe  and  protect  her, 
and  to  perform  all  that  is  generally  implied  in 
contracts  of  marriage  in  favour  of  the  Israel- 
itish  wives." 

The  verbal  agreement  was  made  in  the 
presence  of  a  sufficient  number  of  witnesses, 
by  the  man  saying  to  the  woman,  "  Take 
this  money  as  a  pledge  that  at  such  a  time  I 
will  take  thee  to  be  my  wife."  A  woman 
who  was  thus  betrothed  or  bargaineel  for, 
wr.s  almost  in  every  respect  by  the  law  con- 
sidered as  already  married. 

Before  the  legislation  of  Moses  "  marriages 
among  the  Jews,"  say  the  Rabbies,  •'  were 
Agreed  upon  by  the  parents  and  relations  of 
both  sides.  When  this  was  done,  the  .bride - 
Groom  was  introduced  to  his  bride.  Presents 
are  mutually  exchanged,  the  contract  signed 
before  witnesses,  and  the  bride,  having  re- 
mained some  time  with  her  relations,  was 
sent  away  to  the  habitation  of  her  husband,, 
in  the  night,  with  singing,  dancing  and  the 
sound  of  musical  instruments." 

By  the  institution  of  Moses,  the  Rabbies 
tell  us,  the  contract  of  marriage  was  read  ia 
the  presence  of,  and  signed  by,  at  least  ten 
witnesses,  who  were  free,  and  of  age.  The 
bride,  who  hud  taken  care  to  bathe  herself 
the  night  before,  appeared  in  all  her  splendour, 
but  veiled,  in  imitation/  of  Rebecca,  who 
veiled  herself  when  she  came  m  sight  of 
Isaac.  She  was  then  given  to  the  brides 
groom  by  her  parents,  in  words  to.  this  pur- 
V  a 


226  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

pose:  "  Take  her  according-  to  the  lav,*  of 
Moses."  And  he  received  her,  by  saying", 
"  I  takf  her  according  to  that  law."  Some 
blessings  were  then  pronounced  upon  the 
young  couple,  both  by  the  parents  and  the 
rest  af  the  company. 

The  blessings  or  prayers  generally  run  in 
this  style  :  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord  of  hea- 
ven and  earth,  who  hast  created  man  in  thine 
own  likeness,  and  hast  appointed  women  to 
be  his  partner  and  companion !  Blessed  art 
thou,  who  fillest  Zion  with  joy  for  the  multi- 
tude of  her  children  !  Blessed  art  thou,  who 
sendest  gladness  to  the  bridegroom  and  his 
bride  !  who  hast  ordained  for  them  love,  joy, 
tenderness,  peace  and  mutual  affection.  Be 
pleased  to  bless,  not  only  this  couple,  but 
Judah  and  Jerusalem,  with  songs  of  joy,  and 
praise  for  the  joy  that  thou  givest  them,  by 
the  multitude  of  their  sons  and  of  their  daugh- 
ters." 

After  the  virgins  had  sung  a  marriage  song, 
the  company  partook  of  a  repast,  the  most 
magnificent  the  parties  could  afford ;  after 
which  they  began  a  dance,  the  men  round 
the  bridegroom,  the  women  rcund  the  bride. 
They  pretended  that  this  dance  was  of  divine 
institution,  and  an  essential  part  of  the  cere- 
mony. The  bride  was  then  carried  to  the 
nuptuai  bed,  and  the  bridegroom  left  in  the 
chamber  with  her.  The  company  again  re- 
turned to  their  feasting  and  rejoicing;  and 
the  Rabbies  inform  us,  that  this  feasting, 
when  the  bride  was  a  widow,  lasted  only 
three  days,  but  seven  if  she  was  a  virgin. 


THS  FAIR  SEX.  227 

At  the  birth  of  a  son,  the  father  planted  a 
cedar ;  and  at  that  of  a  daughter,  he  planted 
a  pine.  Of  these  trees  the  nuptial  {pd  was 
constructed,  when  the  parties,  at  whose  birth 
they  were  planted,  entered  into  the  married 
state. 

The  Assyrians  had  a  court,  or  ^pbunal, 
whose  only  business  was  to  dispose  ofyoung 
women  in  marriage,  and  to  see  the  laws  of 
that  union  properly  executed.  What  these 
laws  were,  or  how  the  execution  of  them 
was  enforced,  are  circumstances  which  have 
not  been  handed  down  to  us.  But  the  erect- 
ing a  court  solely  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
cognizance  of  them,  suggests  an  idea  that 
they  were  many  and  various. 

Among  the  Greeks,  the  multiplicity  of 
male  and  female  deities  who  were  concerned 
in  the  affairs  of  love,  made  the  invocations 
and  sacrifices,  on  a  matrimonial  occasion,  a 
very  tedious  affair.  Fortunate  omens  gave 
great  joy ;  and  the  most  fortunate  of  all 
others,  was  a  pair  of  turtles  seen  in  the  air, 
as  those  birds  were  reckoned  the  truest  c 
blems  of  conjugal  love  and  fidelity.  If,  how- 
ever, one  of  them  was  seen  alone,  it  infalli- 
bly denoted  separation,  and  all  the  ills  attend- 
ing an  unhappy  marriage. 

On  the  wedding  day,  the  bride  and  bride- 
groom were  richiy  dressed,  and  adorned  with 
garlands  of  herbs  and  flowers.  The  bride 
was  conducted  in  the  evening  to  the  house  of 
her  husband  in  a  chariot,  seated  between  the 
the  husban:!  and  one  of  his  relations.  When 
she  alighted  from  the  chariot,  the  axle-ttee  of 


228  HSTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

it  was  burnt,  to  signify  that  there  was  no  me- 
tfi  <\  :-  ft  for  hSr  to  return  buck.  As  soon  as 
the  yn^g  couple  entered  the  house,  figs  and 
cihei  fruits  were  thrown  upon  their  heads  to 
denote  \/j  jt)  ;  and  a  sumptuous  entertain- 
ment was  ready  for  them  to  partake  of,  to 
\vl  ich  aii  the  relations  On  both  sides  were  in- 
vited. ^> 

The  bride  was  lighted  to  bed  by  a  number 
of  torches,  according  to  her  quality  ;  and  the 
'company  returned  in  the  morning,  to  salute 
the  new  married  couple,  and  to  sing  epitkala* 
mm  at  the  door  of  their  bed-chamber. 

Epithiamia  were  marriage  songs,  anciently 
sung  in  praise  of  the  briele  or  bridegroom, 
wishing  them  happiness,  prosperity  and  a  nu- 
merous issue. 

Among  the  Romans  there  were  three  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  marriage.  The  ceremony  of 
the  first  consisted  in  the  young  couple  eating 
a  cake  together,  maele  only  of  wheat,  salt, 
anel  water.  The  second  kind  was  cele» 
brated  by  the  parties  solemnly  pledging  their 
fa^h  to  ench  other,  by  giving  and  receiving  a 
piece  of  money.  This  was  the  most  common 
way  of  marrying  among  the  Romans.  It  con- 
tinued in  use,  even  after  they  became  Chris- 
tians. When  writings  were  introduced  to 
testify  that  a  man  and  a  woman  had  become 
husband  and  wife,  and  also,  that  the  husband 
had  settled  a  dower  upon  his  bride,  these 
writings  were  called  Tabula  Dotales  (dowry 
tables  ;)  and  hence  perhaps  the  words  in  our 
marriage  ceremony,  "  I  thee  endow." 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  229 

The  third  kind  of  marriage  was,  when  a 
man  and  woman,  having  cohabited  for  some 
time  and  had  children,  found  it  expedient  to 
continue  together.  In  this  case,  if  th^  made 
up  the  matter  between  themselves,  it  became 
a  valid  marriage,  and  the  children  were  con- 
sidered as  legitimate. 

Something  similar  to  this  is  the  present 
custom  in  Scotland.  There,  if  a  man  live 
with,  and  have  children  by  a  woman,  though 
he  do  not  marry  her  till  he  be  upon  his  death- 
bed, all  the  children  are  thereby  legitimated, 
and  become  entitled  to  the  honors  and  estates 
of  their  father.  The  case  is  the  same  in  Hol- 
land, and  some  parts  of  Germany  ;  with  this 
difference  only,  that  all  the  children  to  be  legi- 
timated must  appear  with  the  father  and  mo- 
ther in  church,  at  the  ceremony  of  their  mar- 
riage. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

On  the  Choice  of  a  Husband. 

ASSIST  me,  ye  Nine, 

While  the  youth  I  define, 
With  whom  I  in  wedlock  would  class  ; 

And  ye  blooming  fair, 

Lend  a  listening  ear, 
To  approve  of  the  man  as  you  pass. 

Not  the  changeable  fry 
Who  love,  nor  know  why, 
But  follow  bcfdupM  by  their  passions  : 


230  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Such  votaries  as  these, 
Are  like  waves  of  the  seas, 
And  steer'd  by  their  own  inclination. 

The  hectoring  blade 

How  unfit  for  the  maid, 
Where  meekness  and  modesty  reigns  ! 

Such  a  thundering  Bully 

I'll  speak  against  truly, 
W  hatever  I  get  for  my  pains. 

Not  the  dogmatic  elf, 
Whose  great  all  is  himself, 

Whose  alone  ipse  dixit  is  law  ; 
What  a  figure  he'll  make, 
How  like  Momus  he'll  speak 

With  sneering  burlesque,  a  pshaw !  pshaw  I 

Not  the  covetous  wretch 

Whose  heart's  at  full  stretch 
To  gain  an  inordinate  treasure  ; 

Him  leave  with  the  rest, 

And  such  mortals  detest, 
Who  sacrifice  life  without  measure. 

The  fluttering  fop, 

How  empty  his  top  ! 
Nay  but  some  call  him  coxcomb,  I  trow  ; 

But  'tis  losing  ycur  time, 

He's  not  worth  half  a  rhyme, 
Let  the  kg  ends  of  prose  bind  his  brow. 

The  guttling  sot, 
What  a  conduit  his  throat  ! 
How  beastly  and  vicious  his  life  ! 
Where  drunkards  prevail, 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  231 

Whole  families  feel, 
Much  more  an  affectionate  wife. 

One  character  yet, 

I  with  sorrow  repeat, 
And  O  !  that  the  number  were  less  ; 

'Tis  the  blasphemous  crew  : 

What  a  pattern  they'll  shew 
To  their  hapless  and  innocent  race ! 

Let  wisdom  then  shine 

In  the  youth  that  is  mine, 
Whilst  virtue  his  footsteps  impress  ; 

Such  I'd  choose  for  my  mate, 

Whether  sooner  or  late  : 
Tell  me,  Ladies,  what  think  you  of  this  ? 

"  The  chief  poirt  to  be  regarded,"  says 
Lady  Pennington  in  her  Advice  to  her  Daugh- 
ters, "  in  the  choice  of  a  companion  for  life, 
is  a  really  virtuous  principle — an  unaffected 
goodness  of  heart.  Without  this,  you  will 
be  continually  shocked  by  indecency,  and 
pained  by  impiety.  So  numerous  have  been 
the  unhappy  victims  to  the  ridiculous  opinion, 
a  reformed  libertine  makes  the  best  husband— ' 
that,  did  not  experience  daily  evince  the  con- 
trary, one  would  believe  it  impossible  for  a 
girl  who  has  a  tolerable  degree  of  common 
understanding,  to  be  made  the  dupe  of 
so  erroneous  a  position,  which  hasx  not  the 
least  shadow  of  reason  for  its  foundation,  and 
which  a  small  share  of  observation  will  prove 
to  be  false  in  fact.  A  man  who  has  been  long 
conversant  with  the  worst  sort  of  women,  is 


232  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

very  apt  to  contract  a  bad  opinion  of,  and  a 
contempt  for,  the  sex  in  general.     Incapable 
of  esteeming  any,  he  is  suspicious  of  all  ;  jea- 
lous without  cause,  angry  without  provocation, 
his  own  disturbed  imagination  is  a  continued 
source  of  ill-humour.     To  this  is  frequently 
joined  a   bad  habit  of  body,  the  natural  con- 
sequence of  an  irregular  life,  which  gives  an 
additional  sourness  to  the  temper.     What  ra- 
tional prospect  of  happiness  can  there  be  with 
such  a  companion  ?     And,   that  this  is  the 
general  character  of  those  who  are  called  re- 
formed rakes,  observation  will  certify.      But, 
admit  there  may  be  some  exceptions,  it  is  a 
hazard,   upon  which  no  considerate  woman 
would  venture  the  peace  of  her  whole  fu- 
ture life.      The  vanity  of  those  girls  who  be- 
lieve themselves  capable  of  working  miracles 
of  this  kind,    and  who  give  up  their  persons 
to  men  of  libertine  principles,  upon  the  wild 
expectation   of  reclaiming   them,  justly  de- 
serves the  disappointment  which  it  will  gene- 
rally meet  with  ;  for,  believe  me,  a  wife  is,  of 
all  persons,  the  least  likely  to  succeed  in  such 
an  attempt. — Be  it  your  care  to  find  that  vir- 
tue in  a  lover  which  you  must  never  hope  to 
form  in  a  husband.     Good   sense,  and  good 
nature,  are  almost  equally  requisite.  If  the  for- 
mer is  wanting,  it  will  be  next  to  an  impossi- 
bility for  you  to  esteem  the  person,  of  whose 
behaviour  you  may  have  cause  to  be  asham- 
ed.    Mutual  esteem  is  as  essential  to  happi- 
ness in  the  married  state,  as  mutual  affection. 
Without  the  latter,  every  day  will  bring  with 
it  some  fresh  cause  of  vexation,  until  repeated 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  233 

quarrels  produce  a  coolness,  which  will  settle 
into  an  irreconcileable  aversion,  and  you  will 
become,  not  only  each  other's  torment,  but 
the  object  of  contempt  to  your  family,  and  to 
your  acquaintance. 

"  This  quality  of  good  nature,  is,  of  all  o- 
thers,  the  most  difficult  to  be  ascertained,  on 
account  of  the  general  mistake  of  blending  it 
with  good-humour,  as  if  they  were  in  them- 
selves the  same;  whereas,  in  fact,  no  two 
principles  of  action  are  more  essentially  dif- 
ferent. But  this  may  require  some  explana- 
tion— By  good-nature,  I  mean  that  true  be- 
nevolence, which  partakes  in  the  felicity  of  all 
mankind,  which  promotes  the  felicity  of  every 
individual  within  the  reach  of  its  ability,  which 
relieves  the  distressed,  comforts  the  afflicted, 
diffuses  blessings,  and  communicates  happi- 
ness, far  as  its  sphere  of  action  can  extend  ; 
and  which,  in  the  private  scenes  of  life,  will 
shine  conspicuous  in  the  dutiful  son,  in  the 
affectionate  husband,  the  indulgent  father,  the 
faithful  friend,  and  in  the  compassionate  mas- 
ter both  to  man  and  beast.  Good -humour, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  nothing  more  than  a 
cheerful,  pleasing  deportment,  arising  either 
from  a  natural  gaiety  of  mind,  or  from  an  af- 
fection of  popularity,  joined  to  an  affability  of 
behavior,  the  result  of  good  breeding,  and 
from  a  ready  compliance  with  the  taste  of 
every  company.  This  kind  of  mere  good- 
humour,  is,  by  far,  the  most  striking  quality. 
It  is  frequently  mistaken,  for,  and  compli- 
mented with  the  superior  name  of  real  good 
nature,  A  man,  by  this  specious  appearance, 
W 


234  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

has  often  acquired  that  appellation  who,  in  all 
the  actions  of  his  private  life,  has  been  a 
morose,  cruel,  reven  geful,  sullen,  haughty  ty- 
rant. Let  them  put  on  the  cap,  whose  temples 
fit  the  galling  wreath  ! 

"  A  man  of  a  truly  benevolent  disposition, 
and  formed  to  promote  the  happiness  of  all 
around  him,  may  sometimes,  perhaps,  from 
an  ill  habit  of  body,  an  accidental  vexation,  or 
from  a  commendable  openness  of  heart,  above 
the  meanness  of  disguise,  be  guilty  of  little  sal- 
lies of  peevishness,  or  of  ill-humour,  wjgich, 
carrying  the  appearance  of  ill-nature,  may  be 
unjustly  thought  to  proceed  from  it,  by  persons 
who  are  unacquainted  with  his  true  character, 
and  who  take  ill  humour  and  ill-nature  to  be 
synonymous  terms,  though  in  reality  they  bear 
not  the  least  analogy  to  each  other.  In  or- 
der to  the  forming  a  right  judgment,  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  observe  this  distinction, 
which  will  effectually  secure  you  from  the 
dangerous  error  of  taking  the  shadow  for  the 
substance,  an  irretrievable  mistake,  pregnant 
with  innumerable  consequent  evils  ! 

"  From  what  has  been  said,  it  plainly  ap- 
pears, that  the  criterion  of  this  amiable  virtue 
is  not  to  be  taken  from  the  general  opinion  ; 
mere  good-humour  being,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  sufficient  in  this  particular,  to  esta- 
blish the  public  voice  in  favor  of  a -man  utter- 
ly devoid  of  every  humane  and  benevolent  af- 
fection of  heart.  It  is  only  from  the  less  con- 
spicuous scenes  of  life,  the  more  retired  sphere 
of  action,  from  the  artless  tenor  of  domestic 
conduct,  that  the  real  character  can,  with  any 


THE  FAIR  SEX,  235 

certainty  be  drawn.  These,  undisguised, 
proclaim  the  man.  But,  as  they  shun  the  glare 
of  light,  nor  court  the  noise  of  popular  ap- 
plause, they  pass  unnoticed,  and  are  seldom 
known  till,  after  an  int'-mate  acquaintance, 
The  best  method,  therefore,  to  avoid  the  de- 
ception in  this  case,  is  to  lay  no  stress  on 
outward  appearances,  which  are  too  often  fal- 
lacious, but  to  take  the  rule  of  judging  from 
the  simple  unpolished  sentiments  of  those 
whose  dependent  connections  give  them  un- 
deniable certainty  ;  who  not  only  see,  but  who 
hourly  feel,  the  good  or  bad  effect  of  that  dis- 
position, to  which  they  are  subjected.  By 
this,  I  mean,  that  if  a  man  is  equally  respect- 
ed, esteemed,  and  beloved  by  his  dependants 
and  domestics,  you  may  justly  conclude,  he 
has  that  true  good  nature,  that  real  benevo- 
lence, which  delights  in  communicating  feli- 
city, and  enjoys  the  satisfaction  it  diffuses. 
But  if  by  these  he  is  despised  and  hated,  serv- 
ed merely  from  a  principle  of  fear,  devoid  of 
affection,  which  is  ever  easily  discoverable, 
whatever  may  be  his  public  character,  howe- 
ver favourable  the  general  opinion,  be  assur- 
ed, that  his  disposition  is  such  as  can  never  be 
productive  of  domestic  happiness.  I  have 
been  the  more  particular  on  this  head,  as  it  is 
one  of  the  most  essential  qualifications  to  be 
regarded,  and  of  all  others  the  most  liable  to 
be  mistaken. 

"  Never  be  prevailed  with,  my  dear,  to  give 
your  hand  to  a  person  defective  in  these  ma- 
terial points.  Secure  of  virtue,  of  good-na- 
ture, and  understanding,  in  a  husband,  you 


236  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

may  be  secure  of  happiness.  Without  the 
£wo  former  it  is  unattainable.  Without  the 
latter  in  a  tolerable  degree,  it  must  be  very- 
imperfect. 

"  Remember,  however,  that  infallibility  is 
not  the  property  of  man,  or  you  may  entail 
disappointment    on   yourself,  by    expecting 
what  is  never  to  be  found.  The  best  men  are 
sometimes  inconsistent  with  themselves.  They 
are  liable  to  be  hurried,   by  sudden   starts  of 
passion,   into  expressions  and  actions,  which 
their  cooler  reason  will  condemn.    They^nay 
have   some  oddities  of  behavior,   and  some 
peculiarities  of  temper.     They  may  be  sub- 
ject to  accidental  ill-humour,  or  to  whimsical 
complaints.      Blemishes  of  this   kind  often 
shade  the  brightest  character  ;  but  they  are 
never  destructive  of  mutual  felicity,  unless 
when  they  are  made  so  by  improper  resent- 
ment, or  by  an  ill-judged  opposition.     When 
cooled,  and  in  his  usual  temper,  the  man  of 
understanding,  if  he  has  been  wrong,  will  sug- 
gest to  himself  all  that  could  be  urged  against 
him.     The  man  of  good-nature   will,  unup- 
braided,   own  his  error.     Immediate  contra- 
diction  is,  therefore,    wholly  unserviceable, 
and  highly  imprudent  ;  an  after  repetition  is 
equally    unnecessary  and  injudicious.     Any 
peculiarities  in  the  temper  or  behavior  ought 
to  be  properly  represented  in  thetenderestand 
in  the  most  friendly  manner.     If  the  repre- 
sentation of  them  is   made  discreetly,   it  will 
generally  be  well  taken.     But,  if  they  are  so 
habitual  as  not  easily  to  be  altered,  strike  not 
too  often  upon  the  unharmonious  string.  Ra~ 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  237 

ther  let  them  pass  as  unobserved.  Such  a 
cheerful  compliance  will  better  cement  your 
union  ;  and  they  may  be  made  easy  to  your- 
self, by  reflecting  on  the  superior  good  qual- 
ities by  which  these  trifling  faults  are  so  great- 
ly overbalanced. 

"  You  must  remember,  my  dear,  these  rules 
are  laid  down  on  the  supposition  of  your  be- 
ing united  to  a  person  who  possesses  the  three 
qualifications  for  happiness  before  mentioned. 
In  this  case  no  farther  direction  is  necessary, 
but  that  you  strictly  perform  the  duty  of  a 
wife,  namely,  to  love,  to  honor,  and  obey, 
The  two  first  articles  are  a  tribute  so  indispen- 
sably due  to  merit,  that  they  must  be  paid  by 
inclination — and  they  naturally  lead  to  the  per- 
formance of  the  last,  which  will  not  only  be 
an  easy,  but  a  pleasing  task,  since  nothing  can 
ever  be  enjoined  by  such  a  person  that  is  in 
itself  improper,  and  a  few  things  will,  that 
ean  with  any  reason,  be  disagreeable  to  you. 

"  The  being  united  to  a  man  of  irreligious 
principles,  makes  it  impossible  to  discharge  \\ 
great  part  of  the  proper  duty  of  a  wife.  To 
name  but  one  instance,  obedience  will  be  ren- 
dered impracticable,  by  frequent  iuj unctions 
inconsistent  with,  and  contrarv  to,  the  higher 
obligations  of  morality.  This  is  not  a  sup- 
position, but  is  a  certainty  founded  upon  facts, 
which  I  have  too  often  seen  and  can  attest* 
Where  this  happens,  the  reasons  for  non-com- 
pliance ought  to  be  offered  in  a  plain,  strong, 
good-natured  manner.  There  is  at  least  the 
chance  of  success  from  being  heard.  But 
should  those  reasons  be  rejected,  or  the  h< 
W  z 


23?  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ine  them  refused,  and  silence  on  the   subject 
enjoined,  which  is  most  probable,  few  people 
caring  to  hear  what   they  know   to  be  right, 
when  they  are  determined  not  to  be  convinc- 
ed by  it — obey   the  injunction,  and  urge  not 
the  argument  farther.     Keep,  however,  stea- 
dy to  your  principles,  and   suffer  neither  per- 
suasion nor   threats  to  prevail  on  you  to  act 
contrary  to  them.     All  commands  repugnant 
to  the  laws  of  Christianity,  it  is  your  indispen- 
sable duty  to  disobey.     Ail  requests  that  are 
inconsistent  with  prudence,  or  incomputable 
with  the  rank  and  character  which  you  ought  to 
maintain  in  life,  it  is  your  interest  to  refuse. 
A  compliance  with  the  former  would  be  cri- 
minal, a  consent  to  the  latter  highly  indiscreet; 
and  it  might  thereby   subject  you  to  general 
censure.  For  a  man,  capable  of  requiring,  from 
his  wife,  what  lie  knows  to  be  in  itself  wrong, 
is  equally  capable  of  throwing  the  whole  blame 
of  such  misconduct  on  her,  and  of  afterwards 
upbraiding  her  for  a  behaviour,  to  which  he 
will,  upon  the  same  principle,  disown  that  he 
has  been  accessary.     Many  similar  instances 
have  come  within  the  compass  of  my  own  ob- 
servation.    In  things  of  a  less  material  nature, 
that  are  neither    criminal   in  themselves,  nor 
pernicious  in  their   consequences,  always  ac- 
quiesce, if  insisted  on,  however  disagreeable 
they  may  be  to  your  own  temper  and  inclina- 
tion. Such  a  compliance  will  evidently  prove, 
that  your  refusal,  in  the  other  cases,  proceeds 
not  from  a  spirit  of  contradiction,  but  merely 
from  a  just  regard  to  that  superior  duty  which 
can  never  be  infringed  with  impunity. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  a 39 

£C  As  the  want  of  understanding  is  by  no 
art  to  be  concealed,  by  no  address  to  be  dis~ 
guised,  it  might  be  supposed  impossible  for  a 
woman  of  sense  to  unite  herself  to  a  person 
whose  defect,  in  this  instance,  must  render 
that  sort  of  rational  society,  which  constitutes 
the  chief  happiness  of  such  an  union,  impos- 
sible. Yet  here,  how  often  has  the  weakness 
of  female  judgment  been  conspicuous  I  The 
advantages  of  great  superiority  in  rank  or  for- 
tune have  Frequently  proved  so  irresistable  a 
temptation,  as,  in  opinion,  to  outweigh,  not: 
only  the  folly,  but  even  the  vices  of  its  pos- 
sessor— a  grand  mistake,  even  tacitly  acknow- 
ledged by  a  subsequent  repentance,  when  the 
expected  pleasures  of  affluence,  equipage,  and 
all  the  glittering  pomp  of  useless  pageantry, 
have  been  experimentally  found  insufficient  to 
make  amends  for  the  want  of  that  constant 
satisfaction  which  results  from  the  social  joy 
of  conversing  with  a  reasonable  friend  ! 

"  Bat  however  weak  this  motive  must  be 
acknowledged,  it  is  more  excusable  than 
another,  which,  I  fear,  has  sometimes  had  an 
equal  influence  on  the  mind— I  mean  so  great 
a  love  of  sway,  as  to  induce  her  to  give  the 
preference  to  a  person  of  weak  intellectuals, 
in  hopes  of  holding,  uncontrouled,  the  reigns 
of  government.  The  expectation  is,  in  fact, 
ill-grounded.  Obstinacy  and  pride  are  gene- 
rally the  companions  of  folly.  The  silliest  peo- 
ple are  often  the  most  tenacious  of  their  opj- 
nions,  and,  consequently,  the  hardest  of  all 
others  to  be  managed.  :  But,  admit  the  con- 
trary, the  principle  is  in  itself  bad.     It  tends 


240  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

to  invert  the  order  of  nature,  and  to  counter- 
act the  design  of  Providence. 

"  A  Woman  can  never  be  seen  in  a  more 
ridiculous  light  than  when  she  appears  to  go- 
vern her  husband.  If,  unfortunately,  the 
superiority  of  understanding  is  on  her  side, 
the  apparent  consciousness  of  that  superiority 
betrays  a  weakness,  that  renders  her  contempt- 
ible in  the  sight  of  every  considerate  person, 
and  it  may,  very  probably,  fix  in  his  mind  a 
dislike  never  to  be  eradicated.  In  such  a  case, 
if  it  should  ever  be  your  own,  remember  that 
some  degree  of  dissimulation  is  commenda- 
ble, so  far  as  to  let  your  husband's  defects 
appear  unobserved.  When  he  judges  wrong, 
never  flatly  contradict,  but  lead  him  insensi- 
bly into  another  opinion,  in  so  discreet  a  man- 
ner, that  it  may  seem  entirely  his  own,  and 
let  the  whole  credit  of  every  prudent  deter- 
mination rest  on  him,  without  indulging  the 
foolish  vanity  of  claiming  any  merit  to  your- 
self. Thus  a  person  of  but  an  indiiTerent  capa- 
city, may  be  so  assisted,  as,  in  many  instances, 
to  shine  With  borrowed  lustre,  scarce  distin- 
guishable from  the  native,  and  by  degrees  he 
may  be  brought  into  a  kind  of  mechanical 
method  of  acting  properly,  in  all  the  common 
occurrences  of  life.  Odd  as  this  position 
may  seem,  it  is  founded  in  fact.  I  have  seen 
the  method  successfully  practised  by  more 
than  one  person,  where  a  weak  mind,  on  the 
governed  side,  has  been  so  prudently  set  off 
as  to  appear  the  sole  director ;  like  the  statute 
of  the  Delphic  god,  which  was  thought  to 
give  forth  its  own  oracles,  whilst  the  humble 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  241 

priest,  who  lent  his  voice,  was  by  the  shrine 
concealed,  nor  sought  a  higher  glory  than  a 
supposed  obedience  to  the  power  he  would 
be  thought  to  serve." 


CHAPTER  LII. 
Mrs.  PiozzPs  Advice  to  a  New  Married  Man. 

I  RECEIVED  the  news  of  your  marriage 

with -infinite  delight,  and  hope  that  the  sin- 
cerity with  which  I  wish  you  happiness,  may 
excuse  the  liberty  I  take  in  giving  you  a  few 
rules,  whereby  more  certainly  to  obtain  it. — 
I  see  you  smile  at  my  wrong-headed  kind- 
ness, and,  reflecting  on  the  charms  of  your 
bride,  cry  out  in  a  rapture,  that  you  are  hap- 
py enough  without  my  rules.  I  know  you 
are.  Rut  after  one  of  the  forty  years,  which 
I  hope  you  will  pass  pleasingly  together,  are 
over,  this  letter  may  come  in  turn,  and  rules 
for  felicity  may  not  be  found  unnecessary, 
however  some  of  them  may  appear  imprac- 
ticable. 

Could  that  kind  of  love  be  kept  alive  thro' 
the  marriage  state,  which  makes  the  charm 
of  a  single  one,  the  sovereign  good  would  no 
longer  be  sought  for  ;  in  the  union  of  two 
faithful  lovers  it  would  be  found  :  but  reason 
shews  us  that  this  is  impossible,  and  experi- 
ence informs  us  that  it  never  was  so ;  we 
must  preserve  it  as  long,  and  supply  it  as 
happily  as  we  can.  When  your  present  vio- 
lence of  passion  subside?,  however,  and  a 


242  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

more  cool  and  tranquil  affection  takes  its 
place,  be  not  hasty  to  censure  yourself  as  in- 
different, or  to  lament  yourself  as  unhappy ; 
you  have  lost  that  only  which  it  was  impos- 
sible to  retain,  and  it  were  graceless  amid  the 
pleasures  of  a  prosperous  summer  to  regret 
the  blossoms  of  a  transient  spring.  Neither 
unwarily  condemn  your  bride's  insipidity  till 
you  have  recollected  that  no  object  however 
sublime,  no  sounds  however  charming,  can 
continue  to  transport  us  with  delight  when 
they  no  longer  strike  us  with  novelty .^|  The 
skill  to  renovate  the  powers  of  pleasing,  are 
said,  indeed,  to  be  possessed  by  some  women 
in  an  eminent  degree ;  but  the  artifices  of 
maturity  are  seldom  seen  to  adorn  the  inno- 
cence of  youth  :  you  have  made  your  choice, 
and  ought  to  approve  it. 

Satiety  follows  quickly  upon  the  heels  of 
possession ;  and  to  be  happy,  we  must  always 
have    something    in    view.     The  person   of 
your  lady    is    already    all    your    own,    and 
will  not  grow  more  pleasing  in  your  eyes  I 
doubt,  though  the  rest  of  your  sex  will  think    « 
her  handsome  for  these  dozen  of  years. — 
Turn,   therefore,  all   your    attention    to  her 
mind,  which  will  daily  grow  brighter  by  po  ^0 
lishing.     Study  some  easy  science  together,  flfc 
and  acquire    a  similarity  of  tastes  while  you  ' 
enjoy  a  community  of  pleasures.     You  will 
by  this  means  have  many  images  in  common, 
and  be  freed  from  the  necessity  of  separating 
to  find  amusement.  Nothing  is  so  dangerous 
to  wedded  love  as  the  possibility  of  either 
being   happy   out  of    the  company  of  the 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  243 

other:  endeavour  therefore  to  cement  the 
present  intimacy  on  every  side ;  let  your  wife 
never  be  kept  ignorant  of  your  income,  your 
expenses,  your  friendships  or  aversions;  let 
her  know  your  very  faults,  but  make  them 
amiable  by  your  virtues ;  consider  all  con- 
cealment as  a  breach  of  fidelity  ;  let  her  ne- 
ver have  any  thing  to  find  out  in  your  cha- 
racter ;  and  remember  that  from  the  moment 
one  of  the  partners  turns  spy  upon  the  other, 
they  have  commenced  a  state  of  hostility. 

:.-dk  not  for  happiness  in  singularity  ;  and 
dreaq  a  refinement  of  wisdom  as  a  deviation 
into  folly.  Listen  not  to  those  sages  who  ad- 
vise you  always  to  scorn  the  council  of  a 
woman,  and  if  you  comply  with  her  requests 
pronounce  you  to  be  wife- ridden.  Think  not 
any  privation,  except  of  positive  evil,  an  ex- 
cellence, and  do  not  congratulate  yourself 
that  your  wife  is  not  a  learned  lady,  that  she 
never  touches  a  card,  or  is  wholly  ignorant 
how  ta  make  a  pudding.  Cards,  cookery  and 
learning,  are  all  good  in  their  places,  and  may 
be  all  used  with  advantage. 

o 

With  regard  to  expense,  I  can  only  observe, 
that  the  money  laid  out  in  the  purchase  of 
distinction  is  seldom  or  ever  profitably  em- 
ployed. We  live  in  an  age  when  splendid 
furniture  and  glittering  equipage  are  grown 
too  common  to  catch  the  notice  of  the  mean- 
est spectator ;  and  for  the  greater  ones,  they 
only  regard  our  wasteful  folly  with  silent  con- 
tempt, or  open  indignation.  This  may  per- 
haps be  a  displeasing  reflection,  but  the  fol- 
lowing consideration  ought  to  make  amends. 


344  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

The  age  we  live  in  pays,  I  think,  peculiar  at- 
tention  to  the  hk-her  distinctions  of  wit, 
knowledge  and  virtue,  to  which  we  may  more 
safely,  more  cheaply,  and  more  honourably 
aspire.  The  giddy  flirt  of  quality  frets  at  the 
respect  she  sees  paid  to  Lady  Edgecumbe, 
and  the  gay  dunce  sits  pining  for  a  partner, 
while  Jones  the  orientalist  leads  up  the  ball. 
I  said  that  the  person  of  your  lady  would 
not  grow  mere  pleasing  to  you  ;  but  pray  let 
her  never  suspect  that  it  grows  less  so:  that 
a  woman  will  pardon  an  affront  to  her  tBfcer-^ 
standing  much  sooner  than  one  to  her  person, 
is  well  known  ;  nor  will  any  of  us  contradict 
the  assertion.  All  our  attainments,  all  our 
arts,  are  employed  to  gain  and  keep  the  heart 
of  inan :  and  what  mortification  can  exceed 
the  disappointment,  if  the  end  be  not  obtain- 
ed ?  There  is  no  reproof  however  pointed, 
no  punishment  however  severe,  that  a  woman 
cf  spirit  will  not  prefer  to  neglect ;  ancl  if 
she  can  endure  it  wi&out  complaint,  it  only 
proves  that  she  means  to  make  herself  amends 
by  the  attention  of  others  for  the  slights  of 
her  husband.  For  this,  and  for  every  rea- 
son, it  behoves  a  married  man  not  to  let  his 
politeness  fail,  though  his  ardour  may  abate, 
but  to  retain  at  least  that  general  civility  to- 
wards his  own  lady  which  he  is  so  willing  to 
pay  to  every  other,  and  not  shew  a  wife  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  years  old,  that  every  man 
in  company  can  treat  her  with  more  compli- 
sance  than  he,  who  so  often  vowed  to  her  eter- 
nal fondness. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  S45 

It  is  not  my  opinion  that  a  young  woman 
should  be  indulged  in  every  wild  wish  of  her 
gay  heart  or  giddy  head  ;  but  contradiction 
may  be  softened  by  domestic  kindness,  and 
quiet  pleasures  substituted  in  the  place  of 
noisy  ones.  Public  amusements  are  not  in- 
deed so  expensive  as  is  sometimes  imagined, 
but  they  tend  to  alienate  the  minds  of  marri- 
ed people  from  each  other.  A  well  chosen 
society  of  friends  and  acquaintance,  more 
eminent  for  virtue  and  good  sense  than  for 
gaiety  and  splendour,  where  the  conversation 
of  the  day  may  afford  comment  for  the  even- 
ing, seems  the  most  rational  pleasure  this 
great  town  can  afford. 

That  your  own  superiority  should  always 
be  seen,  but  never  felt,  seems  an  excellent 
general  rule.  A  wife  should  outshine  her 
husband  in  nothing,  not  even  in  dress.  If 
she  happens  to  have  a  taste  for  the  trifling 
distinction  that  finery  can  confer,  suffer  her 
not  for  a  moment  to  fancy,  when  she  appears 
in  public,  that  Sir  Edward  or  the  Colonel  are 
finer  gentlemen  than  her  husband.  The  bane 
of  married  happiness  among  the  city  men  in 
general  has  been,  that  finding  themselves  unfit 
for  polite  life,  they  transferred  their  vanity  to 
their  ladies,  dressed  them  up  gaily,  and  sent 
them  out  a  gallanting,  while  the  good  man 
was  to  regale  with  port  wine  or  rum  punch, 
perhaps  among  mean  companions,  after  the 
compting  house  was  shut :  this  practice  pro- 
duced the  ridicule  thrown  on  them  in  all  our 
comedies  and  novels  since  commerce  began 
to  prosper.  But  now  that  I  am  so  near  the 
X 


246  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

subject,  a  word  or  two  on  jealousy  may  not 
be  amiss ;  for  though  not  a  failing  of  the  pre- 
sent age's  growth,  yet  the  seeds  of  it  are  too 
certainly  sown  in  every  warm  bosom  for  us 
to  neglect  it  as  a  fault  of  no  consequence.  If 
you  are  ever  tempted  to  be  jealous,  watch 
your  wife  narrowly — but  never  tease  her; 
tell  her  your  jealousy,  but  conceal  your  sus- 
picion ;  let  her,  in  short,  be  satisfied  that  it  is 
only  your  odd  temper,  and  even  troublesome 
attachment,  that  makes  you  follow  her;  but 
let  her  not  dream  that  you  ever  doubted  se- 
riously of  her  virtue  even  for  a  moment.  If 
she  is  disposed  towards  jealousy  of  you,  let 
me  beseech  you  to  be  always  explicit  with 
her  and  never  mysterious:  be  above  delight- 
ing in  her  pain,  of  all  things — nor  do  your 
business  nor  pay  your  visits  with  an  air  of 
concealment,  when  all  you  are  doing  might 
as  wTell  be  proclaimed  perhaps  in  the  parish 
vestry.  But  I  hope  better  than  this  of  your 
tenderness  and  of  your  virtue,  and  will  release 
you  from  a  lecture  you  have  so  little  need  of, 
unless  your  extreme  youth  and  my  uncom- 
mon regard  will  excuse  it.  And  now  farewell-; 
make  my  kindest  compliments  to  your  wife, 
and  be  happy  in  proportion  as  happiness  ifi 
'wished  you  by,     Dear  Sir,  he. 


q 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  Ml 

CHAPTER  LIU." 

Garrick's  Advice  to  Married  Ladies. 

YE  fair  married  dames  who  so  often  deplore 
That  a  lover  onee  blest  is  a  lover  no  more ; 
Attend  to  my  counsel,  nor  blush  to  be  taught, 
That  prudence  must  cherish  what  beauty  has 
caught. 

The  bloom  of  your  cheek,  and  the  glance  of 

your  eye, 
Your  roses  and  lilies  may  make  the  men  sigh ; 
But  roses,  and  lilies,  and  sighs  pass  away, 
And  passion  will  die  as  your  beauties  decay. 

Use  the  man  that  you  wed  like  your  fav'rite 

guitar, 
Tho'  music  in  both,  they  are  both  apt  to  jar; 
How  tuneful  and  soft  from  a  delicate  touch, 
Not  handled  too  roughly,  nor  play'd  on  too 

much ! 

The  sparrow  and  linnet  will  feed  from  your 

hand, 
Grow  tame  by  your  kindness,  and  come  at 

command  : 
Exert  with  your  husband  die  same  happy 

skill,      '  **■ 

For  hearts,  like  your  birds,  may  be  tamed  to 

your  will. 

Be  gay  and  good-humour'd,  complying  and 

kind, 
Turn  the  chief  of  your  care  from  your  face 

to  your  mind ; 


e^  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Tis  thus  that  a  wife  may  her  conquests  ini 

prove, 
And  Bvrnen  shall  rivet  the  fetters  of  love. 


CHAPTER  L1Y. 
O/i  Widowhood* 

THE  History  of  all  antiquity  gives  the  % 
M'cst  reasons  to  suspect,  that  widows 
were  often  the  prey  of  the  lawless  tyrant,  who 
spoiled  them  with  impunity  because  they  had 
lione  to  help  them.  In  many  places  of  scrip- 
ture we  frequently  iind  the  state  of  the  wi- 
dow and  the  fatherless  depicted  as  of  all  others 
the  most  forlorn  and  miserable ;  and  men  of 
honour  and  probity,  in  enumerating  their  own 
good  actions,  placing  a  principal  share  of 
them  in  not  having  spoiled  the  widow  and  the 
fatherless.  **  li  I  have  lift  up  my  hand  against 
the  fatherless,"  says  Job,  "  or  have  caused 
the  eyes  of  the  widow  to  fail,  then  let  mine 
arm  fall  from  mine  shoulder,  and  be  broken 
from  the  bone."  In  the  book  of  Exodus  it 
is  declared  as  a  law,  drat  "  ye  shall  not  afflict 
the  widow,  or  the  fatherless  child.  If  thou 
afflict  them  in  any  ways,  and  they  cry  unto 
me,  I  will  surely  hear  -their  cry ;  and  my 
wrath  shall  wax  hot,  and  I  will  kill  you  with 
the  sword,  and  your  wives  shall  be  widows, 
and  your  children  fatherless." 

In  the  eighth  century,  one  of  the  canon 
laws  enacted  that  none  shall  presume  to  dis 
turb  widows,  orphans  and  weak  people  ;  and 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  249 

no  sentence  could  be  executed  against  a  wi- 
dow, without  advising  the  bishop  of  the  dio- 
cese of  it.  These  circumstances  create  a 
strong  suspicion  that  widows  were  often  op- 
pressed;  otherwise,  why  so  many  laws  for 
their  particular  protection  ? 

Among  many  of  the  ancients,  widows 
were,  by  custom,  restricted  from  having  a 
second  husband.  Almost  over  all  the  East, 
and  among  many  tribes  of  the  Tartars,  they 
believed  that  wives  were  not  only  destined  to 
serve  their  husbands  in  this  world,  but  in  the 
next  also ;  and  as  every  wife  there  was  to  be 
the  sole  property  of  her  first  husband,  she 
could  never  obtain  a  second,  because  he 
could  only  secure  to  himself  her  service  in 
this  life. 

When  the  Greeks  became  sensible  of  the 
benefits  arising  from  the  regulations  of  Ce- 
crops  concerning  matrimony,  they  conceived 
so  high  an  idea  of  them,  that  they  affixed  a  de- 
gree of  infamy  on  the  woman  who  married  a 
second  husband,  even  after  the  death  of  the 
fii  ot ;  and  it  was  more  than  two  centuries  af- 
ter the  time  of  Cerrop3  beibre  any  woman 
dared  to  make  the  attempt.  Their  history 
has  transmitted  to  posterity,  with  some  degree 
of  infamy,  the  name  of  her  who  first  ventured 
on  a  second  marriage.  Gorgophona,  the 
daughter  of  Perseus  and  Andromeda,  began 
the  practice  ;  a  practice  which,  though  seen 
after  followed  by  others,  could  not,  even  by 
the  multitude  of  its  votaries,  be  screened  from 
the  public  odium.  During  a  great  part  of  the 
heroic  ages,  widows  who  married  again,  V 
X  z 


2jo  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

considered  as  having  offended  against  public 
decency.  To  this  custom  Virgil  plainly  al- 
ludes, when  he  describes  the  conflict  in  the 
breast  of  Dido,  between  her  love  for  .flSneas, 
and  fear  of  wounding  her  honour  by  a  second 
marriage.  Nay,  so  scrupulous  were  the 
Greeks  about  second  marriages,  that  in  some 
circumstances  even  men  were  with  difficulty 
allowed  to  enter  into  them.  Charonidas  ex- 
cluded all  those  from  the  public  councils  of 
the  state,  who  had  children,  and  married  a  se- 
cond wife.  "  It  is  impossible,  (said  he)  that 
a  man  can  advise  well  for  his  country,  who 
does  not  consult  the  good  of  his  own  family. 
He,  whose  first  marriage  has  been  happy, 
ought  to  rest  satisfied  with  that  happiness  ;  if 
unhappy,  he  must  be  out  of  his  senses  to 
risque  being  so  again,55 

The  Romans  borrowed  this  custom  of  the 
Greeks,  and  considered  it  not  only  as  a  kind  of 
breach  of  the  matrimonial  vow  in  the  woman, 
but  also  as  affecting  die  man  nearly  in  the 
same  manner  that  her  in  fidelity  would  have 
affected  him  while  he  was  living.  "  The  soul 
of  a  deceased  husband,5' says  Justinian,  "  is 
disturbed  when  his  wife   marries  a  second.'* 

In  Cu manna,  when  a  husband  dies,  it  is 
said  they  make  the  widow  swear,  that  she  will 
preserve  and  keep  by  her  his  head  during  her 
life.  This  is  intended  as  a  monitor,  to  tell 
her  that  she  is  never  to  enter  again  into  the 
married  state. 

Among  the  ancient  Jews  and  Christians  of 
the  primitive  ages,  there  were  certain  orders 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  l$l 

of  men,  who  were  not  allowed  to  join  them- 
selves in  marriage  with  widows,  "  A  priest, 
(says  Moses)  shall  not  take  to  wife  a  widow, 
or  a  divorced  woman,  or  prophane,  or  an  har- 
lot febut  he  shall  take  a  virgin  of  his  own  peo- 
ple to  wife." 

Pope  Syricus,  copying  the  example  set  by 
Moses,  ordained  that  if  a  bishop  married  a 
widow,  he  should  be  degraded.  In  the  year 
400,  we  find  it  decreed  in  the  Cyprian  coun- 
cil, that  if  a  reader  married  a  widow,  he  should 
never  be  preferred  in  the  church  ;  and  that  if 
a  subdeacon  did  the  same,  he  should  be  de- 
graded to  a  door  keeper  or  reader. 

In  the  doomsday  book,  we  find  the  king 
exacted  only  a  fine  of  ten  shillings  for  liberty 
to  marry  a  maiden  ;  but  it  cost  twenty  to  ob- 
tain liberty  of  marrying  a  widow. 

Several  legislators  have  fixed  a  certain  time, 
within  which  widows  should  not  be  allowed 
to  marry.  Among  the  Romans  this  was  ten 
months.  Among  other  nations  it  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  regard  they  thought  due  to  a 
deceased  husband  ;  and  the  expression  of 
that  regard  which  ought  to  be  shown  by  his 
wife. 

In  the  eleventh  century  the  church  decreed, 
that  a  widow  should  not  marry  within  the 
space  of  one  year  after  her  release  from  the 
bonds  of  matrimony.  The  laws  of  Geneva 
shorten  this  period  to  half  a  year.  But  as 
there  are  few  countries,  in  which  the  matter 
is  taken  up  by  the  legislature,  it  is  more  com- 
monly regulated  by  custom  than  by  law. 

About  a  century  ago;  widows  in  Scotland, 


2Si  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

and  in  Spain,  wore  the  dress  of  mourners  till 
d*  ath,  or  a  second  husband  put  an  end  to  the 
ceremony.  In  Spain  the  widow  passed  the 
first  year  of  her  mourning  in  a  chamber  hung 
with  black,  into  which  day-light  was  never 
suffered  to  enter.  She  then  changed  her  dark 
and  dismal  scene  for  a  chamber  hung  with 
grey,  into  which  she  sometimes  admitted  an 
intrusive  sunbeam  to  penetrate.  In  neither 
of  these  apartments  did  custom  allow  her  look- 
glasses,  nor  plate,  nor  any  thing  but  the  most 
plain  and  necessary  furniture.  Nor  was  she 
to  have  any  jewels  on  her  person,  nor  to  wear 
any  colour  but  black. 

We  are  so  much  accustomed  in  Europe  to 
see  mourners  dressed  in  black,  that  we  have 
affixed  a  melancholy  idea  to  that  colour. 
Black  is  not,  however,  universally  appropri- 
ated to  this  purpose.  The  dress  of  Chinese 
mourners  is  white  ;  that  of  the  Turks  blue  ; 
of  the  Peruvians  a  mouse-colour  ;  of  the  E- 
gyptians  yel!ow,and  in  some  of  there  provinces, 
green*  Purple  is  at  present  made  use  of  as 
the  mourning  dress  of  kings  and  cardinals. 

Some  tribes  of  American  savages  allot  a 
widow  the  tedious  space  of  four  years  to  chas- 
tity and  to  mourning.  To  this  mourning  and 
continency  are  added  particular  austerities. 
Every  evening  and  morning,  during  the  first 
year,  a  widow  is  obliged  to  lament  her  loss  in 
loud  lugubrious  strains.  Eut,  if  her  husband 
was  a  war-chief,  she  is  then,  during  the  first 
moon,  to  sit  the  whole  day  under  his  war- 
pole,  and  there  incessantly  to  bewail  her  lost 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  25; 

lord*  without  any  shelter  from  the  heat,  the 
cold,  or  whatever  weather  shall  happen. 

This  war-pole  is  a  tree  stuck  in  the  ground, 
with  the  top  and  branches  cut  off.  It  is  paint- 
ed red,  and  all  the  weapons  and  trophies  of 
war,  which  belonged  to  the  deceased,  are  hung 
on  it,  and  remain  there  till  they  rot. 

In  several  parts  of  Africa,  a  country  of  ty- 
ranny and  despotism,  women  are  not  only 
doomed  to  be  the  slaves  of  their  husbands  in 
this  world,  but  according  to  their  opinion,  in 
the  next  also.  The  husband  is  no  sooner 
dead,  than  his  wives,  concubines,  servants, 
and  even  sometimes  horses,  must  be  strang- 
led, in  order  to  render  him  the  same  services 
in  a  future  life  which  they  did  in  this* 

At  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  order  that 
widows  may  not  impose  themselves  on  the 
men  for  virgins,  they  are  obliged  by  law  to  cut 
off  a  joint  from  the  finger  for  every  husband 
that  dies.  This  joint  they  present  to  their 
new  husband  on  the  day  of  their   marriage. 

The  Hindoos  do  not  bury  their  dead  alter 
the  manner  of  many  other  nations,  but  burn 
their  bodies  upon  a  large  pile  of  wood  erected 
for  the  purpose.  Upon  this  pile  the  most  be- 
loved wife,  and  in  some  places,  it  is  said,  all 
the  wives  of  great  men  are  obliged  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  flames  which  consume  the 
bodies  of  their  husbands. 

In  the  history  of  the  Buccaniers  of  Ameri- 
ca, it  is  said,  that  a  widow  in  the  Carribee  I- 
slands  is  obliged  every  day,  for  the  space  of 
one  year,  to  carry  victuals  to  the  grave  of  her 
deceased  husband ;  and.  the  year  being  e:- 


?S4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

pired,  she  must  dig  up  his  bones,  wash  and 
dry  them  in  the  sun,  put  them  in  a  satchel,  car- 
ry  them  on  her  back  all  day,  and  sleep  upon 
them  all  night,  for  the  space  of  another  year. 
Cruel  custom  !  if  it  really  exists.  But  the 
anonymous  author  of  the  history  abounds  so 
much  in  the  marvellous,  that  he  deserves  but 
little  credit. 

Herodotus  informs  us,  that  among  the  an- 
cient Cretonians,  a  people  of  Trace,  widows, 
assisted  by  all  their  relations,  made  interest 
who  should  be  preferred  to  the  honour  of  being 
killed  on  the  grave  of  the  deceased   husband. 

In  China,  if  widows  have  had  children,  they 
become  absolute  mistresses  of  themselves, 
and  their  relations  have  no  power  to  compel 
them  to  become  widows,  nor  to  give  them  to 
another  husband.  It  is  not,  however,  reputa- 
ble for  a  widow  who  has  children,  to  enter  in- 
to a  second  marriage,  without  great  necessi- 
ty, especially  if  she  is  a  woman  of  distinction. 
In  this  case,  although  she  has  been  a  wife  on- 
ly a  few  hoars,  or  barely  contracted,  she  fre- 
quently thinks  herself  obliged  to  pass  the  rest 
cf  her  days  in  widowhood — and  thereby  to 
testify  to  the  world  the  esteem  and  veneration 
she  hud  for  her  husband  or  lover. 

In  the  middle  stations  of  life,  the  relations 
of  some  deceased  husbands,  eager  to  reim- 
burse the  family  in  the  sum  which  the  wife 
originally  cost  it,  oblige  her  to  marry,  or  rather 
sell  her  to  another  husband,  if  she  has  no  male 
issue.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  happens  that 
the  future  husband  has  concluded  the  bar- 
gain, and  paid  the  money  for  her,  before   she 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  355 

is  acquainted  with  the  transaction.  By  the 
laws  of  China,  a  widow  cannot  be  sold  to  a- 
nother  husband,  till  the  time  of  her  mourning 
for  the  first  expires.  So  desirous,  however1, 
are  the  friends  often  to  dispose  of  her,  that 
they  pay  no  regard  to  .  ;  but,  on  a  com- 

plaint being  made  to  idarin,  he  is  oblig- 

ed to  do  her  justice  A  she  is  commonly 
unwilling  to  be  bill-  red  for  in  this  manner, 
without  her  consent  or  knowledge,  as  soon  as 
the  bargain  is  struck,  a  covered  chair,  with  a 
considerable  number  of  lusty  follows,  is  bro't 
to  her  house.  Being  forcibly  put  into  this 
chair  she  is  conveyed  to  the  house  of  her  new 
husband,  who  takes  care  to   secure  her. 

In  Europe,  a  widow  in  tolerable  circum- 
stances is  more  mistress  of  herself  than  any 
other  woman  ;  being  free  from  that  guardian- 
ship and  controul  to  which  the  sex  are  sub- 
ject while  virgins,  and  while  wives.  In  no 
part  of  Europe  is  this  more  exemplified  than 
at  Parma,  and  some  other  places  of  Italy  ; 
where  a  widow  is  the  only  female  who  is  at 
liberty  either  to  choose  a  husband,  or  assume 
the  government  of  any  of  her  actions.  Should 
a  virgin  pretend  to  choose  for  herself,  it  would 
be  reckoned  the  most  profligate  licentiousness. 
Should  she  govern  her  actions  or  opinions, 
she  would  be  considered  as  the  most  pert, 
and  perhaps  the  most  abandoned,  of  her  sex. 

Politeness  and  humanity  have  joined  their 
efforts  in  Europe  to  render  the  condition  of 
widows  comfortable.  The  government  of 
England  has  provided  a  fund  for  the  widows 
of  officers.  The  clergy  of  Scotland  have  yd- 


2i6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  Or 

luntarily  raised  a  stock  to  support  the  widows 
of  their  order.  Many  incorporated  trades 
have  followed  these  laudable  examples.  This 
case  is  not  confined  to  Britain.  It  extends 
to  France,  Germany,  and  other  countries, 
where  it  exists  in  forms  too  various  to  be  de- 
lineated. 

The  ancient  laws  of  a  great  part  of  F.urope 
ordained,  that  a  widow  should  lose  her  dower, 
if  she  married  again,  or  suffered  her  chastity  to 
be  corrupted.  The  laws  of  Prussia  retain  this 
ordinance  to  the  present  time.  They  likewise 
ordain  that  a  widow  shall  not  marry  again, 
within  nine  months  after  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band. 

The  Prussians  have  another  regulation  con- 
cerning widows,  highly  descriptive  of  the  hu- 
manity and  wisdom  of  their  legislature.  When 
a  widower  and  widow  intend  to  marrv,  owe 
or  both  of  which  having  children,  as  it  too 
frequently  happens  that  such  children  are  ei- 
ther despised  or  neglected,  in  consequence 
of  the  new  connections  formed,  and  perhaps 
of  the  new  offspring  raised  up,  the  laws  of 
Prussia  provide  for  their  education  and  for- 
tune, according  to  the  rank  and  circumstances 
of  the  parents  ;  and  will  not  suffer  either  man 
or  woman  to  enter  into  a  second  marriage, 
without  previously  settling  with  the  children 
of  the  first. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  257 

CHAPTER  LV. 

JDr.  Schomberg's  Method  of  Reading,   for 
Female  Improvement. 

IN    A    LETTER     TO    A     LADY. 
MADAM, 

CONFORMABLE  to  your  desire,  and 
my  promise,  I  present  you  with  a  few  thoughts 
on  the  method  of  reading  ;  which  you  would 
have  had  sooner,  only  that  you  gave  me  leave 
to  set  them  down  at  my  leisure  hours.  I  have 
complied  with  your  request  in  both  these  par- 
ticulars ;  so  that  you  see,  Madam,  how  ab- 
solute your  commands  are  over  me.  If  my 
remarks  should  answer  your  expectations, 
and  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  intended; 
if  they  should  in  the  least  conduce  to  the 
spending  your  time  in  a  more  profitable  and 
agreeable  manner  than  most  of  your  sex  gen- 
erally do,  it  will  give  me  a  pleasure  equal  at 
least  to  that  you  will  receive. 

It  were  to  be  wished  that  the  female  part 
of  the  human  creation,  on  whom  nature  has 
poured  out  so  many  charms  with  so  lavish  a 
hand,  would  pay  some  regard  to  the  cultivat- 
ing of  their  minds  and  improving  their  un- 
derstanding. It  is  easily  accomplished. 
Would  they  bestow  a  fourth  part  of  the  time 
they  throw  away  on  the  trifles  and  gewgaws 
of  dress,  in  reading  proper  books,  it  would 
perfectly  answer  their  purpose.  Not  that  I 
ana  against  the  ladies  adorning  their  persons : 


258  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

let  them  be  set  off  with  all  the  ornaments  that 
art  and  nature  can  conspire  to  produce  for 
their  embellishment,  but  let  it  be  with  reason 
and  good  sense,  not  caprice  and  humor  ;  for 
there  is  good  sense  in  dress,  as  in  all  things  else. 
Strange  doctrine  to  some  !  But  I  am  sure, 
Madam,  you  know  there  is — you  practise  it. 
The  first  rule  to  be  laid  down  to  any  one 
who  reads  to  improve,  is  never  to  read  but  with 
attention.  As  the  abstruse  parts  of  learning 
are  not  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of 
one  of  your  sex,  a  small  degree  of  it  will  suf- 
fice. I  would  throw  the  subjects  of  which  the 
ladies  ought  not  to  be  wholly  ignorant  under 
the  following  heads  : 

HISTORY- — MORALITY POETRY. 

The  first  employs  the  memory ;  the  second, 
the  judgment  ;  and  the  third,  the  imagination. 

Whenever  you  undertake  to  read  History, 
make  a  small  abstract  of  the  memorable  e- 
vents  ;  and  set  down  in  what  year  they  hap- 
pened. If  you  entertain  yourself  with  the  life 
of  a  famous  person,  do  the  same  by  his  most 
remarkable  actions,  with  the  addition  of  the 
year  and  the  place  he  was  born  at  and  died. 
You  will  find  these  great  helps  to  your  memo- 
ry, as  they  will  lead  you  to  remember  what 
you  do  not  write  down,  by  a  sort  of  chain  that 
links  the  whole  history  together. 

Books  on  Morality  deserve  an  exact  read- 
ing. There  are  none  in  our  language  more 
useful  and  entertaining  than  the  Spectators, 
Tatlers,  and  Guardians.     They  are  the  stand- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  259 

artls  of  the  English  tongue,  and  as  such  should 
be  read  over  and  over  again  ;  for  as  we  im- 
perceptibly slide  into  the  manners  and  habits 
of  those  persons  with  whom  we  most  fre- 
quently converse,  so  reading  being,  as  it  were, 
a  silent  conversation,  we  insensibly  write  and 
talk  in  the  style  of  the  authors  we  have  the 
most  often  read,  and  who  have  left  the  deepest 
impressions  on  our  mind.  Now,  in  order  to 
retain  what  you  read  on  the  various  subjects 
that  fall  under  the  head  of  morality,  I  would 
advise  you  to  mark  with  a  pencil  whatever 
you  find  worth  remembering.  If  a  passage 
strike  you,  mark  it  down  in  the  margin  ;  jf 
an  expression,  draw  a  line  under  it ;  if  a  whole 
paper  in  the  fore- mentioned  books,  or  any 
others  which  are  written  in  the  same  loose  and 
unconnected  manner,  make  an  asterisk 
over  the  first  line.  By  these  means  you  will 
select  the  most  valuable,  and  they  will  sink 
deeper  in  your  memory  than  the  rest,  on  re- 
peated reading,  by  being  distinguished  from 
them. 

^  The  last  article  is  Poetry.  The  wav  of 
distinguishing  good  poetry  from  bad,  'is  to 
turn  it  out  of  verse  into  prose,  and  see  whether 
the  thought  is  natural,  and  the  words  adapted 
to  it  ;  or  whether  they  are  not  too  big  and 
sounding,  or  too  low  and  mean  for  the  sense 
they  would  convey.  This  rule  will  prevent 
you  from  being  imposed  on  by  bombast  and 
fustian,  which  with  many  passes  for  sublime  ; 
for  smooth  verses  which  run  off  the  ear  with 
an  easy  cadence,  and  harmonious  turn,  very 
often  impose  nonsense  on  the  world,  and  are 


i6o         historical  sketches  op 

like  your  fine  dressed  beaux,  who  pass  for  fine 
gentlemen.  Divest  both  from  their  outward 
ornaments,  and  people  are  surprised  they  could 
have  been  so  easily  deluded* 

I  have  now,  madam,  given  a  few  rules,  and 
those  such  only  as  are  really  necessary.  I 
could  have  added  more  ;  but  these  will  be 
sufficient  to  enable  you  to  read  without  burden* 
ing  your  memory,  and  yet  with  another  view 
besides  that  of  barely  killing  time,  as  too  many 
are  accustomed  to  do. 

The  task  ycu  have  imposed  on  me,  is  a 
strong  proof  of  your  knowing  the  true  value 
of  time,  and  always  having  improved  it  to  the 
best  advantage,  were  there  no  other ;  and  that 
there  are  other  proofs,  those  who  have  the 
pleasure  of  being  acquainted  with  you,  can 
tell. 

As  for  my  part,  Madam,  you  have  done  me 
too  much  honor,  by  singling  me  out  from  all 
your  acquaintance  on  this  occasion,  to  say 
any  tiling  that  would  not  look  like  flattery  ; 
you  yourself  would  tiling  it  so,  were  I  to  do 
you  the  common  justice  all  your  friends  allow 
you  :  I  must  therefore  be  silent  on  this  head, 
and  only  say,  that  I  shall  think  myself  well 
rewarded  in  turn,  if  jou  will  believe  me  to  be, 
with  the  utmost  sincerity,  as  I  really  arn, 
Madam, 

Your  faithful 

Humble  servant, 
1.  SCIIOMBERG, 


THE  FAIH  SEX.  261 

CHAPTER  LVI. 

The  Deaths  of  Lucretla  and  Virginia. 

THE  force  of  prejudice  appears  in  nothing 
more  strongly  than  in  the  encomiums  which 
have  been  lavished  upon  Lucretia,  for  laying 
violent  hands  upon  herself,  and  Virginius,  for 
killing  his  own  daughter.  These  actions  seem 
to  derive  all  their  glory  from  the  revolutions 
to  which  they  give  rise,  as  the  former  occasi- 
oned the  abolition  of  monarchy  amongst  the 
Romans,  and  the  latter  put  an  end  to  the  ar- 
bitrary power  of  the  decemviri.  But  if  we 
lay  aside  our  prepossessions  for  antiquity,  and 
examine  these  actions  without  prejudice,  we 
cannot  but  acknowledge,  that  they  are  rather 
the  effects  of  human  weaknxss  and  obstinacy 
than  of  resolution  and  magnanimity.  Lucre- 
tia, for  fear  of  worldly  censure,  chose  rather 
to  submit  to  the  lewd  desires  of  Tarquin,  than 
have  it  thought  that  she  had  been  stabbed  in 
the  embraces  of  a  slave;  which  sufficiently 
proves,  that  all  her  boasted  virtue  was  found- 
ed upon  vanity,  and  too  high  a  value  for  the 
opinion  of  mankind.  The  younger  Plinv, 
with  great  reason,  prefers  to  this  famed  actioi* 
that  of  a  woman  of  low-birth,  whose  husband 
being  seized  with  an  incurable  disorder,  chose 
rather  to  perish  with  him  than  survive  him. 
The  action  of  Arria  is  likewise  much  more 
noble,  whose  husband  P^tus,  being  condemn- 
ed to  death,  plunged  a  dagger  inlier  breast, 
and  told  him,  with  a  dying  voice,  "  Pmus* 
Y  2 


262  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

it  is  not  painful."  But  the  death  ofLucretia 
gave  rise  to  a  revolution,  and  it  therefore  be- 
came illustrious  ;  though,  as  St.  Augustine 
justly  observes,  it  is  only  an  instance  of  the 
weakness  of  a  woman,  too  solicitous  about 
the  opinion  of  the  world. 

Virginius.  in  killing  his  daughter,  to  pre- 
serve her  from  falling  a  victim  to  the  lust  of 
the  decemvir  Claudius,  was  guilty  of  the 
highest  rashness ;  since  he  might  certainly 
have  gained  the  people,  already  irrkated  a- 
gainst  the  tyrant,  without  embruing  his  hands 
in  his  own  blood.  This  action  may  indeed 
be  extenuated,  as  Virginius  slew  his  daugh- 
ter from  a  false  principle  of  honour,  and  did 
it  to  preserve  her  from  what  both  he  and  she 
thought  worse  than  death  ;  namely,  to  pre- 
serve her  from  violation  :  but  though  it  may 
in  some  measure  be  excused,  it  should  not 
certainly  be  praised  or  admired. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

Thoughts  on  the  Education  of  Women. 

JEY     AN    ANONYMOUS    AUTHOR, 

THE  education  of  men,  and  that  of  women, 
ought  to  be  conducted  on  the  same  princi- 
ples, so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  vanity  of  both 
being  directed  to  essential  objects.  In  almost 
every  other  respect,  however,  there  should  be 
a  difference.  One  thing  in  particular  is  to  be 
cautiously  avoided  in  the  latter,  that  is,  raising 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  263 

the  imagination,  or  suffering  them  to  do  any 
tiling  from  passion. 

Born  for  a  life  of  uniformity  and  depend- 
ence, what  they  have  occasion  for  is  reason, 
sweetness,  and*  sensibility,  resources  against 
idleness  and  languor,  moderate  desires,  and 
no  passions. 

Were  it  in  your  power  to  give  them  geni- 
us, it  would  be  almost  always  a  useless,  and 
very  often  a  dangerous  present.  It  would,  in 
general,  make  them  regret  the  station  which 
Providence  has  assigned  them,  or  have  re- 
course to  unjustifiable  ways  to  get  from  it. 
The  best  taste  for  science  only  contributes  to 
make  them  particular.  It  takes  them  away 
from  the  simplicity  of  their  domestic  duties, 
and  from  general  society,  of  which  they  arc 
the  loveliest  ornament. 

•  Intended  to  be  at  the  head  of  a  house,  to 
bring  up  .children,  to  depend  on  a  master, 
who  will  occasionally  want  their  obedience 
and  advice,  their  chief  qualifications  are  to 
be  the  love  of  order,  patience,  prudence  and 
right-minded  ness. 

The  more  agreeable  talents  they  can  con- 
nect with  these  cardinal  virtues — the  more 
parts  of  learning  they  have  tasted  the  ele- 
ments of,  so  as  not  to  be  entirely  shut  out  of 
mixed  conversation — the  more  relish  they 
have  for  proper  and  well  chosen  books — -and 
the  more  they  are  capable  of  reflecting,  the 
better  and  happier  beings  they  will  be. 

Rousseau  says,  that  the  little  cunning  na- 
tural to  women  ought  not  to  be  checked,  be- 
cause they  will  want  it  to  captivate  the  raen? 


2$4  HISTOniCAL  SKETCHES  OF 

on  whom  they  depend.  This  is  a  detestable 
maxim.  He  might  as  well  have  recommend- 
ed  dissimulation,  and  even  open  falsehood ; 
for,  detestable  as  they  are,  they  may  likewise, 
at  times,  serve  a  turn.  But  for  one  case,  in 
which  vice  may  be  useful,  there  are  a  thou- 
sand in  which  it  does  harm.  Nor  is  there 
any  thing  that  will  weather  every  storm,  save 
the  habitual  exercise  of  virtue.  Besides,  if 
there  were  any  vices,  which  it  became  a  phi- 
losopher to  recommend,  surely  they  should 
not  be  the  lowest  of  all — those  which  indi- 
cate the  last  degree  of  corruption,  both  in 
body  and  mind — those  of  which  immediate 
self-interest  is  the  object. 

After  all,  an  artful  woman  may  govern  a 
weak  and  narrow-minded  man  ;  but  she  will 
never  gain  the  esteem  and  attachment  of  a 
man  of  sense. 


CHAPTER  LVIII. 

JFcdded  Love  is  infinitely  preferable  to  Fa* 
riety, 

HAIL,   wedded   Love,   mysterious   law, 
true  source 
Of  human  offspring,  sole  propriety, 
In  Paradise  of  all  things  common  else! 

By  thee  adult'rous  lust  was  driven  from 
men, 
Among  the  bestial  herds  to  range ;  by  thee 
Founded  in  reason,  loyal,  just  and  pure, 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  26* 

Relations  dear,  and  all  the  charities 

Of  father,  son  and  brother,  first  were  known. 

Thou  art  the  fountain  of  domestic  sweets, 
Whose  bed  is  undenTd  and  chaste  pronoune'd. 
Here  Love  his  golden  shafts  employs,  here 

lights 
His  constant  lamp,    and  waves  his   purple 

wings, 
Reigns  here  and  revels ;  not  in  the  bought 

smile 
Of  harlots,  loveless,  joyless,  unendear'd, 
Casual  fruition  ;  ncr  in  court  amours, 
Mixed  dance,  or  wanton  mask,  or  midnight 

ball, 
Or  serenade,  which  the  starved  lover  sings 
To  his  proud  fair,  best  quitted  with  disdairy 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

On  the  Revolutions  of  the  French  fashions, 
with  some  Advice  to  the  Ladies  respecting 
pertain  parts  of  Dress. 

[TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH.] 

FASHION  is  to  custom  what  prejudices 
are  to  the  moral  virtues.  It  imperiously  dic- 
tates laws  to  those  who  live  under  its  empire, 
and  its  decrees  are  irrevocable.  Women, 
that  bewitching  part  of  the  creation,  born  for 
the  happiness  of  one  half  of  our  sex,  and  for 
the  torment  of  the  other,  discontented  with 
the  little  that  the  laws  have  done  for  them  in 
the  distribution  of  direct  power,  have  at  nil 
times  sought  to   acquire  by  address,  what 


266  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

they  could  not  reasonably  hope  to  obtain  by 
open  force.  The  auxiliary  means  which 
they  have  always  employed  to  accomplish 
their  ends  are  those  of  the  toilette ;  but  in 
blindly  suffering  themselves  to  be  guided  by 
custom,  and  adopting  new  modes,  without 
choice  and  without  reflection,  the  fair  sex  do 
not  derive  from  those  trifles,  to  which  they 
annex  so  much  value,  all  the  advantages  they 
expect.  Those  whom  their  rank  or  chance 
has  placed  in  a  conspicuous  station,  generally 
give  an  example  to  others.  They  are  the 
ilrst  to  adopt  fashions,  and  often  take  them 
from  some  remote  source,  to  which  people  of 
ordinary  rank  never  would  have  gone  to  look 
for  them. 

The  grand  fault  in  what  concerns  the  toi- 
lette, and  that  against  which  they  ought  to  be 
greatly  on  their  guard,  is  not  to  give  too 
much  into  general  fashion,  and  not  to  believe 
that  because  a  particular  dress  becomes  one 
woman,  it  will  become  all  in  the  like  manner. 
To  destroy  this  prejudice,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  observe,  that  ornaments  employed  in  dress, 
ought  to  be  varied  lii  their  composition,  and 
to  be  suited  to  the  shape  and  figure  of  these 
who  adopt  them.  Though  one  cannot  form 
genera!  principles  upon  this  subject,  yet  after 
having  taken  a  view  of  the  modes  of  preced- 
ing ages,  1  shall  venture  to  make  a  few  cur- 
sory observations  upon  the  fashions  which 
prevail  at  present. 

It  is  with  disgust  that  the  imagination  re- 
turns to  those  remote  ages,  when  nature,  in- 
sulted in  every  respect,  and  disfigured  b; 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  267 

most  whimsical  dresses,  presented  to  the  sight 
only  hideous  figures.  In  the  first  ages  of  the 
ich  monarchy,  the  dress  of  the  men  va- 
more  than  that  of  the  women.  Their 
clothes  were  alternately  either  too  long  or  too 
short.  In  general,  long  vestments  are  more 
becoming  and  mon  noble  than  those  that  are 
short.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  this  custom 
should  be  attended  with  so  many  inconveni- 
ences, and  that  it  should  absolutely  impede 
the  exercise  of  the  body,  and  those  labours 
which  our  wants  require,  and  which  luxury 
commands. 

Under  Philip  the  Fair,  an  epocha  when 
dress  began  to  emerge  from  barbarity,  long 
coats  only  were  worn  by  men  in  any  consi- 
deration. In  the  army,  however,  as  well  as 
in  the  country,  short  coats  were  always  retain- 
ed. In  the  fourteenth  century,  the  same 
dress  was  worn  by  men  and  women.  Under 
the  reigns  of  Charles  V.  and  Charles  VI. 
long  coats  only  were  in  fashion ;  but  Charles 
VII.  who  had  ill  made  legs,  again  introduced 
long  coats.  - 

Nothing  is  more  curious,  and  at  the  same 
time  ridiculous,  than  the  dress  of  people  of 
fashion  during  the  first  years  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XL  Figure  to  yourself  a  petit  maitre, 
with  Iiis  hair  flat  and  bushy,  dressed  in  a 
doublet  shaped  like  an  under  waistcoat, 
which  scarcely  covered  his  reins ;  his  breeches 

*  May  not  this  circumstance,  as  well  as  many- 
others  ihat  might  be  mentis'  fri,  serve  to  prove  the 
iostoe&s  of  the  proverb,  which  ssys,  ihai  wise  people 
invent  fajbizus,  and  fools  follow  them  ? 


268  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

exceedingly  close,  rising  very  high,  and  his 
middle  bound  round  with  ribbands,  in  a  most 
whimsical  manner,  as  may  be  still  seen  in 
some  ancient  paintings;  add  to  all  this,  arti- 
ficial shoulders,  in  form  of  a  cushion,  which 
were  placed  upon  each  shoulder-blade,  to 
make  him  appear  to  have  a  large  chest,  and 
to  give  him  a  robust  and  vigorous  appearance. 
This  strange  cancatura  was  terminated  by 
shoes,  the  points  of  which,  for  people  of  the 
first  quality,  were  full  two  feet  in  length. — 
The  populace  had  them  only  of  six  in- 
ches :  those  were  what  they  called  shoes  a  la 
poulaine.  They  were  invented  by  Henry 
Piantagenet,  duke  of  Anjou,  to  conceal  a  very 
large  excrescence  which  he  had  upon  one  of 
his  feet.  As  this  prince,  the  most  gallant  and 
beautiful  man  of  his  age,  gave  the  lead  to  the 
court,  every  one  was  desirous  of  having 
shoes  like  his.  Hence  comes  the  origin  of 
the  French  proverb  eire  suritn  grand  pied. — 
Under  Francis  I.  and  his  successors,  the 
form  cf  men's  dress  began  to  approach  per- 
fection; but  under  the  good  Henry  IV.  it 
became  preferable  to  that  which  we  have 
since  adopted,  and  which  still  subsists.  The 
most  useful  of  all  modes,  and  that  which  will 
survive  all  others,  though  it  has  found  many 
enemies  in  France,  is  the  peruke.  Ecclesi- 
astics were  long  forbidden  to  wear  one  in 
church.  In  1685,  a  canon  of  the  cathedral 
of  Beauveais  was  prevented  from  celebrating 
mass,  because  he  wore  a  peruke.  He,  how- 
ever, deposited  it  in  the  hands  of  two  nota- 
ries, at  the  entrance  into  the  choir,  and  pro- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  s6$ 

tested  against  the  violence  offered  him.  In 
1689,  several  Oratorians*  were  dismissed 
from  their  order,  because  they  had  put  on 
perukes.  At  that  time  they  were  very  large, 
but  at  present  every  thing  is  so  much  chang- 
ed, that  even  physicians,  who  formerly  consi- 
dered an  enormous  peruke  as  the  basis  of 
their  reputation,  seem  to  disdain  that  orna- 
ment. Several  have  adopted  the  bag,  and 
perhaps  we  shall  soon  see  them  performing 
their  morning  visits  with  a  long  queue. 

When  bags  began  first  to  be  in  fashion, 
people  never  wore  them  except  when  in  dish- 
abille ;  in  visits  of  ceremony  one  could  not 
a,  pear  but  with  the  hair  tied  in  a  ribband, 
and  fioating  over  the  shoulders.  This  is  ab- 
solutely contrary  to  our  present  fashion. 

In  the  early  periods  of  the  monarchy,  the 
ladies  scarcely  paid  any  attention  to  dress. — 
It  would  appear  that  they  thought  of  nothing 
more  than  pleasing  their  husbands,  and  of 
giving  a  proper  education  to  their  children, 
and  that  the  rest  of  their  time  was  employed 
in  family  concerns,  and  rural  economy.  If 
their  dress  was  subject  to  little  change  in 
those  primitive  times,  we  ought  not  to  be 
astonished  to  see  the  fair  sex  indemnify  them- 
selves at  present-  for  their  long  inaction. — 
Their  dress,  however,  has  experienced  the 
same  revolutions  as  that  of  men.  There  was 
a  time  when  their  robes  rose  so  high,  that 

they  absolutely  covered  the  breast ;  but  under 

I 

*  A  Conaregation  of  priests  instituted  in  France,  by 
Cardinal 'de   Berulle,  and  approved  by  ihe  Pope  in 

1635, 

Z 


370  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Charles  VI.  Queen  Isabella  of  Bavaria,  at> 
remarkable  for  her  gallantry  as  her  beauty, 
brought  back  the  fashion"  of  leaving  the 
shoulders  and  part  of  the  neck  uncovered. 

Let  us  hear  what  Juvenal  des  Ursins  says 
respecting  the  manner  in  which  the  women 
dressed  their  heads.  "  Both  married  and  un- 
married ladies  were  very  extravagant  in  their 
dress,  and  wore  caps  wonderfully  high  and 
large,  having  two  great  ears  at  each  side, 
which  were  of  such  a  magnitude,  that  when 
they  wished  to  enter  a  door,  it  was  impossible 
for  them."  About  that  time,  the  famous 
Carmelite,  Thomas  Cenare,  exercised  his 
oratorical  talents  against  these  caps.  His  ef- 
forts were  at  first  successful ;  but  his  triumph 
was  of  short  duration,  and  they  again  rose  to 
a  prodigious  degree  ;  they  however,  at  length, 
became  entirely  out  of  fashion. 

The  reign  of  Charles  VII.  brought  back 
the  use  of  ear-rings,  bracelets  and  collars. — 
Some  years  before  the  death  of  that  prince, 
the  dress  of  the  ladies  was  ridiculous  in  the 
highest  degree.  They  wore  robes  so  exceed- 
ingly long,  that  several  yards  of  the  train 
dragged  behind  ;  the  sleeves  were  so  wide 
that  they  swept  the  ground  ;  and  their  heads 
were  lost  under  immense  bonnets,  which 
were  three  fourths  of  their  breadth  in  height. 
To  this  whimsical  fashion  another  succeeded, 
which  was  no  less  so.  The  ladies  placed  a 
kind  of  cushion  upon  their  heads,  loaded  with 
ornaments,  which  displayed  the  worst  taste 
imaginable.  This  head  diess  was  so  large, 
that  it  was  two  yards  in  breadth.     At  that 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  271 

period  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  enlarge 
the  doors  of  all  the  houses.  From  this  ex- 
tremity, the  fair  sex  passed  to  another  no  less 
extravagant.  They  adopted  the  use  of  bon- 
nets so  exceedingly  low,  and  they  arranged 
the  hair  in  so  dose  a  manner,  that  they  ap- 
peared as  if  their  heads  had  been  shaven.— 
On  the  death  of  Charles  VIII.  Anne  of  Bre- 
tagne,  his  queen,  introduced  the  use  of  the 
black  veil,  which  she  always  wore.  The  la- 
dies of  her  court  adopted  it  also,  and  orna- 
mented it  with  red  and  purple  fringes ;  but 
the  cits,  improving  upon  this  mode,  enriched 
it  with  pearls  and  clasps  of  gold. 

It  was  under  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  that 
the  women  began  to  turn  up  their  hair. — 
Margaret,  queen  of  Navarre,  frizzed  that  on 
the  temples,  and  turned  back  that  before. — 
This  princess  occasionally  added  to  this  head 
dress  a  small  bonnet  of  velvet  or  satin,  orna- 
mented with  pearls  and  jewels,  and  placed 
ever  it  a  small  tuft  of  feathers.  Such  a  fa- 
shion was  very  becoming,  and  this  perhaps  is 
the  first  period  when  the  ladies  began  to  dress 
with  any  taste.  A  revolution  was  absolutely 
requisite.  The  gallant  and  voluptuous  reign 
Catharine  de  Medicis  necessarily  brought 
about  a  happy  change  in  the  French  fashions. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  the  chaperon  or 
hood  appeared.  This  mode  continued  a  long 
time,  because  the  sumptuary  laws  established 
a  distinction  in  the  stuff  which  composed  it. 
The  hoods  of  ladies  of  quality  were  of  vel- 
vet, and  those  of  citizens,  of  plain  cloth. — 
La  Bourckr%  midwife  to  Mary  of  Medicis, 


272  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

obtained  an  express  order  from  the  king  to 
wear  one  of  velvet.  Of  all  the  sumptuary 
iaws  made  at  different  periods,  none  had  so 
sudden  an  effect  as  the  edict  of  Henry  the 
Great  in  1604.  This  monarch,  after  having 
forbid  his  su bjects  to  wear  either  gold  or  sil- 
ver upon  their  dresses,  adds,  "  except,  how- 
ever, ladies  of  pleasure  and  pick-pockets,  for 
whom  we  are  rot  so  far  interested  as  to  do 
ihern  the  honor  of  attending  to  their  conduct." 
This  ordinance  was  attended  with  the  proper 
effect,  and  neither  ladies  of  pleasure,  nor  pick- 
pockets took  any  advantage  of  their  permis- 
sion. 

The  French  ladies  in  the  present  day  have 
made  such  a  rapid  progress  in  the  art  of  set- 
ting off  their  charms,  that  they  are  now  fol- 
lowed by  all  the  ladies  in  Europe.  We  have 
seen  modes  of  different  kinds  succeed  one 
another  with  inconceivable  rapidity.  Names 
cf  all  sorts  have  been  exhausted.  Four  vo- 
lumes would  scarcely  contain  the  nomencla- 
ture of  all  the  novelties  which  the  inventive 
genius  of  the  ladies  has  devised  in  the  last 
ten  years.  But  this  is  not  all,  the  fair  sex 
have  so  far  disfigured  nature,  that  one  must 
look  at  them  very  closely  not  to  be  mistaken. 
Their  cavalier  gait,  the  black  hat:,  the  riding- 
coat  and  the  cane  which  they  have  adopted, 
have  given  them  almost  the  appearance  of 
men.  Such  a  dress  does  net  at  all  become 
them,  and  we  cannot  help  saying,  that  it  de- 
stroys all  their  graces. 

Let  us  now  make  a  few  observations  on 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  female 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  273 

dress ;  and  let  us  begin  with  the  ornaments 
of  the  head,  which  may  be  called  the  citadel 
of  coquetry. 

As  the  head  oVcss  should  be  considered 
only  as  an  accessary  part,  whenever  its  height 
exceeds  the  length  of  the  face,  it  produces  a 
disagreeable  effect ;  and  its  effect  will  become 
more  sensible  in  a  woman  whose  physiogno- 
my is  small,  than  in  one  who  has  Roman  fea- 
tures. The  former  can  derive  no  advantage 
but  from  slight  ornaments  which  do  not  occu- 
py much  space;  she  must  always  avoid  large 
figures  and  straight  lines.  A  head  dress 
which  comes  too  far  forward  on  the  head  of  a 
woman  who  has  a  small  nose  and  fiat  chin, 
will  render  these  blemishes  more  sensible, 
whilst  such  a  dress  will  admirably  become 
one  who  has  a  prominent  chin  and  a  large 
nose. 

Beautiful  eyes  lose  great  part  of  their 
splendour  under  large  hats  worn  as  they  are 
at  present.  This  head  dress  ought  to  be  the 
resource  of  those  ladies  who  can  boast  of 
nothing  but  a  pretty  mouth,  and  an  agreeable 
smile.  The  colours  of  gauze  and  ribbands 
employed  to  ornament  the  head,  ought  to  be 
suited  to  that  of  the  hair  and  complexion. — . 
This  care  adds  much  to  the  graces  of  nature. 
It  must,  however,  be  allowed* that  the  ladies 
understand  the  harmony  of  colours  much 
better  than  the  relation  of  forms. 

The  advantages  of  an  elegant  figure  are  of- 
ten lost  by  the  ridiculous  folly  of  wishing  to 
appear  very  slender.  One  needs  only  to  stu- 
dy the  shape  of  the  supurb  antioue  statue  of 


274  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Venus,  to  be  convinced  that  the  beauty  of 
proportion  is  hurt  as  much  by  too  slenckrand 
uniform,  as  by  too  clumsy  a  waist.  It  must 
be  observed  also,  that  too  narrow  boddice  and 
stays  absolutely  destroy  gracefulness  and  ease. 
The  motions  become  stifF,  and  the  attitudes 
confined  ;  besides  speaking  of  the  fatal  acci- 
dents which  may  arise  from  this  violence  of- 
fered to  nature. 

Depravation  of  taste  in  regard  to  dress  was 
some  years  ago  carried  to  a  great  length. 
Very  corpulent  women  wished  to  increase 
their  size  by  cork  rumps,  whieh  women  who 
were  too  slender,  had  ingeniously  invented  to 
supply  what  nature  had  refused  them.  We 
have  seen  some  of  a  very  diminutive  size, 
who  by  the  help  of  this  ridiculous  piece  of 
furniture  seemed  to  have  acquired  as  much  di- 
mensions in  breadth  as  in  height. 

Those  ornaments  which  are  intended  to  a- 
dorn  nature  ought  to  be  simple  and  light. 
The  Grecian  ladies,  who  knew  so  well  how 
to  make  the  most  of  their  charms,  took  great 
care  never  to  use  veils  but  of  the  most  plia- 
ble stuffs.  These  veils  yield  to  their  various 
motions,  and  added  to  the  natural  graceful- 
ness of  their  persons.  All  the  ancient  statues, 
therefore  brought  us  from  that  country,  which 
gave  birth  totlte  arts,  are  admired  by  artists 
and  connoisseurs  for  a  character  of  lightness 
and  ease  which  can  never  be  surpassed. 

It  is  wrong  to  believe,  that  cold. climates 
should  prevent  people  from  wearing  thin 
dresses  :  by  means  of  furred  cloaks,  which 
may  be  used  in  the  open  air,  one  may   wear 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  275 

an  u  ntier  dress  of  the  lightest  stuff  poss;ble. 
The  manner  in  which  the  Russian  ladies  dress, 
may  serve  as  a  proof  of  what  we  have  here 
advanced  ;  but  a  proper  medium  ought  to 
be  observed  between  dresses  which  arc  too 
clumsy,  and  those  which,  on  account  of  their 
thinness,  might  give  offence  to  decency.  A 
woman  who  exposes  herself  to  these  inconve- 
niences does  not  understand  her  own  interest. 

It  was  above  all  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
hair  that  the  Greek  ladies  excelled,  especially 
with  regard  to  simplicity.  We  must  allow, 
that  the  ladies  dress  better  at  present  than 
formerly  :  and  that  they  are  nearer  to  perfec- 
tion than  they  were  some  years  ago.  A  slight 
dawning  begins  already  to  appear  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  dress  their  hair,  and  there 
is  reason  to  hope  that  they  will  make  a  very 
rapid  progress  in  this  part  of  the  business  of 
the  toilette,  especially  if  they  consult  nature 
and  good  artists. 

Nothing  is  more  agreeable  and  becoming 
than  to  wear  the  hair  floating  over  the  shoui- 
dcas.  It  is  much  to  be  wished  that  the  ladies 
would  adhere  to  this  custom.  The  curls 
which  they  have  adopted  before,  would  be- 
come them  much  better,  were  they  less  regu- 
lar, and  disposed  with  more  taste. 

When  by  some  lucky  chance  a  woman  has 
attained  almost  to  perfection  in  the  art  of  dress- 
ing, that  is  to  say,  in  the  art  of  knowing  what 
best  becomes  her,  she  ought  to  be  very  nice 
in  her  choice  of  new  fashions.  In  an  age  so 
frivolous  as  the  present,  the  loss  of  a  lover 
may  be  the  consequence  of  even  such  a  tti- 


2li>  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

fling  circumstance  as  that  of  the  hat  being  wrong 
placed,  or  turned  too  much  to  the  right  or 
the  left.  When  a  passion  is  founded  only  up- 
on trifles,  ought  we  to  be  surprised  that  a  tri- 
fle should  destroy  it  ? 

Artists,  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  stu- 
dying the  beauties  of  nature,  are  the  best 
judges  in  this  respect.  They  alone  have  the 
privilege  of  fixing  the  public  opinion  in  such 
matters.  '1  his  is  really  their  province.  The 
time  is  perhaps  not  far  distant,  when  the  fair 
sex.,  better  acquainted  with  their  dearest  in- 
terests, will  invite  them  to  their  toilettes,  and 
consider  them  as  the  arbiters  of  taste.  Favor- 
ed then  by  the  graces  and  by  beauty,  and  en- 
vied by  all  the  other  classes  of  men,  they  will 
be  indemnified  with  usury  for  that  neglect 
with  which  they  have  so  long  been  treated. 
But  a  great  revolution  must  take  place  before 
that  happy  day  arrives.  At  that  epocha,  e- 
very  thing  will  return  to  its  primitive  order, 
and,  according  to  the  French  proverb,  every 
man  will  be  in  his  own  place,  and  every  abbe 
in  his  benefice. 


CHAPTER  LX. 

On  looking  at  the  Picture  of  a  beautiful 
Female. 

VVH  AT  dazzling  beauties  strike  my  ravish'ci 

eyes, 
And  fill  my  soul  with  pleasure  and  surprise  \ 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  27? 

What  blooming  sweetness  smiles  upon  that 

face  ! 
How  mild,  yet  how  majestic  every  grace  ! 
Injthose  bright  eyes  what  more  than  mimic  fire 
Benignly  shines,  and  kindles  gay  desire  ! 
Yet  chasten'd  modesty,  fair  white-rob'd  dame, 
Triumphant  sits  to  check  the  rising  flame. 
Sure  nature  made  thee  her  peculiar  care  : 
Was  ever  form  so  exquisitely  fair  ? 
Yes,   once   there  was  a  form  thus   heav'nly 

bright, 
But  now  'tis  veii'd  in  everlasting  night  ; 
Each  glory  which  that  lovely  face  could  boast, 
And  every  charm,  iti  traceless  dust  is  lost ; 
An  unregarded  heap  bf  ruin  lies 
That  form  which  lately  drew   ten  thousand 

eyes. 
What  once  was  courted,  lov'd,  ador'd,  and 

praisM, 
Now  mingles  with  the   dust  from  whence 

'twas  rais'd. 
No  mcr£  soft  dimpling  smiles  those  cheeks 

adorn, 
Whose  rosy  tincture  sliam'd  the  rising  morn  ; 
No  more  with  sparkling  radiance  shine  those 

eyes, 
Nor  over  those  the  sable  arches  rise  ; 
Nor  from  those  ruby  lips  soft  accents  Row, 
Nor  hllies  on  the  snowy  forehead  blow  ; 
All,  all  are  cropp'd  by  death's  impartial  hand. 
Charms  could  not   bribe,  nor  beauty's  powV 

withstand  ; 
Not  all  that  crowd  of  wond'rous  charms  could 

save   • 
The  fair  possessor  from  the  dreary  grave, 


273  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

How  fair  is  beauty,  transient,  false  and  vain  I 
It  flies  with  morn,  and  ne'er  returns  again. 
Death,  cruel  ravager,  delights  to  prey 
Upon  the  young,  the  lovely  and  the  gay. 
If  death  appear  not,  oft  corroding  pain, 
With  pining  sickness  in  her  languid  train, 
Blights  youth's  gay  spring  with  some  untime- 
ly blast, 
And  lays  the  blooming  field  of  beauty  waste: 
But  should   these  spare,  still  time  creeps  on 

apace, 
And  plucks  with  wither'd  hand  each  winning 

grace ; 
The  eyes,  lips,  cheeks,  and  bosom  he  disarms, 
No  art  from  him  can  shield  exterior  charms. 

But  would  you,  fair  ones  be  esteem'd,  ap- 

prov'd, 
And  with  an  everlasting  ardor  lov'd  ; 
Would  you  in  wrinkled  age,  admirers  find, 
In  every  female  virtue  dress  the  mind  ; 
Adorn  the  heart,  and  teach  the  soul  to  charm, 
And  when  the  eyes  no  more  the  breast  can 

warm, 
These  ever-blooming  beauties  shall  inspire 
Each  gen'rous  heart  with  friendship's  sacred 

fire  ; 
These  charms  shall  neither  wither,  fade,  norfly ; 
Pain,  sickness,  time,  and  death,  they  dare  defy. 
When  the  pale  tyrant's  hand  shall  seal  your 

doom, 
And  lock  your  ashes  in  the  silent  tomb, 
These  beauties  shall  in  double  lustre  rise, 
Shine  round  the  soul,  and  waft  it  to  the  skies. 


TH£  FAIR  SEX.  37? 


CHAPTER  LXT. 

THK  Extracts  which  fnliow,  ate  exclusively  from 
««  The  Hisrory  o(  Women,  from  «he  earliest  Ami* 
quuy,  10  the    present  lime" —  by    Dr.  Alexander. 

Education  of  JFomen  in  Asia  and  Africa — 
Amusements  of  the  Grecian  Ladies — Re- 
ligious Festivals  of  the  Greeks — fieligi- 
ous  Dancers,  &c. 

IN  several  of  the  warmer  regions  of  Asia 
and  Africa,  where  women  are  considered 
merely  as  instruments  of  animal  pleasure,  the 
little  education  bestowed  upon  them,  is  en- 
tirely calculated  to  debauch  their  minds  and 
give  additional  charms  to  their  persons.  They 
are  instructed  in  such  graces  and  alluring  arts 
as  tend  to  inflame  the  passions ;  they  arc 
taught  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  which 
they  accompany  with  dances,  in  which  every 
movement,  and  every  gesture,  is  expressive- 
ly indecent  :  but  they  receive  no  moral  in- 
struction ;  for  it  would  teach  them  that  they 
were  doing  wrong  :  no  improvement  ;  for  it 
would  shew  them  that  they  were  degrading 
themselves,  by  being  only  trained  up  to  sa- 
tisfy the  pleasures  of  sense.  This,  however, 
is  not  the  practice  of  all  parts  of  Asia  and  A- 
frica  :  the  women  of  Hindostan  are  educated 
more  decently  ;  they  are  not  allowed  to  learn 
music  or  dancing  ;  which  are  only  reckoned 
accomplishments  fit  for  ladies  of  pleasure  : 
they  are,  notwithstanding,  taught  all  the  per- 
sonal graces ,;  and  particular  care  is  taken  t© 


tSo  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

instruct  them  in  the  art  of  conversing  with  e- 
legance  and  vivacity  :  some  of  them  are  also 
taught  to  write,  and  the  generality  to  read, 
that  they  may  be  able  to  read  the  Koran  ;  in- 
stead of  which,  they  more  frequently  dedicate 
themselves  to  tales  and  romances  ;  which, 
painted  in  all  m*  lively  imagery  of  the  Eiist, 
seldom  fail  to  corrupt  the  minds  of  creatures 
shut  up  from  the  world,  and  consequently 
forming  to  themselves  extravagant  and  ro- 
mantic notions  of  all  that  is  transacted  in  it. 

In  well  regulated  families,  women  are 
taught  by  heart  some  prayers  in  Arabic,  which 
at  certain  hours  they  assemble  in  a  hall  to  re- 
peat ;  never  being  allowed  the  liberty  of  go- 
ing to  the  public  mosque.  They  are  enjoined 
always  to  wash  themselves  before  praying ; 
and,  indeed,  the  virtues  of  cleanliness,  of 
chastit}r  and  obedience,  are  so  strongly  and 
constantly  inculcated  on  their  minds,  that  in 
spite  of  their  general  debauchery  of  manners, 
there  are  not  a  few  among  them,  who,  in  their 
common  deportment,  do  credit  to  the  instruc- 
tions bestowed  upon  them  ;  nor  is  this  much 
to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  consider  the 
tempting  recompense  that  is  held  out  to  them  ; 
they  are  in  paradise,  to  flourish  forever,  in  the 
vigour  of  youth  and  beauty  ;  and  however 
old  or  ugly,  when  they  depart  this  life,  are 
there  to  be  immediately  transformed  into  all 
that  is  fair,  and  ail  that  is  graceful. 


AS  the  Greek  ladies  were  almost  constant- 
employed,  and  as  voluntary  employment 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  281 

often  banishes  even  every  wish  of  pleasure 
and  dissipation,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  they  had  few,  if  any,  private  diversions 
or  amusements;  which  are  generally  the  off- 
spring of  idleness,  as  appears  plainly  from 
the  difference,  in  this  respect,  between  the 
women  and  the  men ;  the  former,  as  we  have 
observed,  being  fully  employed,  had  no  need 
of  amusements ;  the  latter  oeing  frequently, 
and,  in  Sparta,  even  by  law  obliged  to  be 
constantly  idle,  were  thereby  induced  to  have 
recourse  to  games  and  sports  of  various  kinds 
to  fill  up  their  vacant  hours,  and  prevent  that 
uncomfortable  tedium  which  so  constantly 
attends  idleness :  to  some  of  these  public 
sports  the  women  were  admitted,  and  from 
others  excluded  by  the  severest  penalties. — 
Their  legislator  possibly  imagined,  that  should 
they  be  indiscriminately  admitted  to  all  the 
amusements  of  the  men,  they  would  acquire 
an  unsuitable  boldness,  and  neglect  the  seve- 
ral duties  and  offices  required  of  them  at 
home.  To  what  we  have  here  observed  the 
Spartan  women  are,  however,  an  objection : 
we  have  already  seen,  that  they  amused  them- 
selves with  the  masculine  exercises  of  wrest- 
ling, throwing  darts,  &c.  But  this  is  not  all : 
they  were  obliged  to  appear  naked  at  some 
of  their  solemn  feasts  and  sacrifices,  and  to 
dance  and  sing,  while  the  young  men  stood 
in  a  circle  around  them  ;  an  amusement 
highly  indelicate,  or,  if  a  religious  ceremony, 
only  worthy  of  the  Cyprian  goddess, 
A  a 


232  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ANOTHER  cause,  which  contributed  to 
make  the  religious  festivals  of  the   Greeks 
appear  as  amusements  and  diversions,  was 
that  ridiculous  buffoonery  that  constituted  so 
great  a  part  of  them  :  it  would  be  tedious  to 
ennumerate  one  half  of  these  buffooneries; 
but  let  a  few  serve  as  a  specimen.     At  a  fes- 
tival held  in  honor  of  Bacchus,  the  women 
ran  about  for  a  long  time  seeking  the  god, 
who,  they    pre tended,   had  run   away  from 
them :  this  done,  they  passed  their  time  in 
proposing  riddles  and  questions  to  each  other, 
and  laughing  at  such  as  could  not  answer 
them ;  and  at  last  often  closed  the  scene  with 
such  enormous  excesses,  that  at  one  of  these 
festivals,  the  daughters  of  Minya,  having,  in 
their   madness,   killed   Hippasus,    had   him 
dressed  and  served  up  to  table  as  a  rarity. — 
At  another,   kept  in  honour  of  Venus  and 
Adonis,  they  beat  their  breasts,  tore  their 
hair,  and  mimicked  all  the  signs  of  the  most 
extravagant  grief,  with  which  they  supposed 
the    goddess  to  have  been   effected  on  the 
death  of  her  favourite  paramour.  At  another, 
in  honour  of  the  nymph  Cotys,  they  address- 
ed her  as  the  goddess  of  wantonness  with 
many  mysterious  rites  and  ceremonies.     At 
Corinth,  these   rites  and  ceremonies,  being 
perhaps  thought  inconsistent  with  the  charac- 
ter of  modest  women,  this  festival  was  only 
celebrated  by  harlots.    Athenacus  mentions  a 
festival,  at  which  the  women  laid  hold  on  all 
the  old  batchelors  they  could  find,  and  drag- 
ged them  round  an  altar;  beating  them  all 
the  time  with  their  fists,  as  punishment  for 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  28$ 

their  neglect  of  the  sex.  We  shall  only- 
mention  two  more  ;  at  one  of  which,  after 
the  assembly  had  met  in  the  temple  of  Ceres, 
the  women  shut  out  all  the  men  and  dogs, 
themselves  and  the  bitches  remaining  in  the 
temple  all  night :  in  the  morning,  the  men 
were  let  in,  and  the  time  was  spent  in  laugh- 
ing  together  at  the  frolic.  At  the  other,  in 
honour  of  Bacchus,  they  counterfeited  phren- 
zy  and  madness ;  and  to  make  this  madness 
appear  the  more  real,  they  used  to  eat  the 
raw  and  bloody  entrails  of  goats  newly 
slaughtered.  And,  indeed,  the  whole  of  the 
festivals  of  Bacchus,  a  deity  much  worship- 
ped in  Greece,  were  celebrated  with  rites 
either  ridiculous,  obscene,  or  madly  extra va- 
gant.  There  were  others,  however,  in  honor 
of  the  other  gods  and  goddesses,  which  were 
more  decent,  and  had  more  the  appearance 
of  religious  solemnity,  though  even  in  these, 
the  women  dressed  out  in  all  their  finery; 
and  adorned  with  flowers  and  garlands,  either 
formed  splendid  processions,  or  assisted  in 
performing  ceremonies,  the  general  tendency 
of  which  was  to  amuse  rather  than  instruct. 


IN  the  neighbourhood  of  .Surat,  the  Hin- 
doos have  many  magnificent  temples;  and  in 
every  temple  are  a  number  of  Bramins,  or 
priests,  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  god 
there  worshipped.  A  part  of  that  service 
consists  in  dancing  on  religious  assemblies, 
and  other  solemn  occasions  ;  and  these  dan- 
ces are  performed  by  young  women,  the  most 


!$4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

handsome  and  beautiful  in  the  country.* — 
These  reside  in  the  temple,  and  are  by  the 
Bfatnins  carefully  collected  from  every  place, 
where  their  own  influence,  or  the  veneration 
of  their  temple  reaches.  In  order  to  induce 
them  to  enter  into  this  service,  besides  the 
immense  rewards  held  out  to  them  in  the 
world  to  come,  they  have  some  peculiar  pri- 
vileges in  this.  They  may  leave  the  temple 
when  they  please ;  and  being  accounted  holy, 
they  are  then  eagerly  sought  after  in  marriage, 
and  have  the  presence  in  this  respect  to  all 
other  women.  While  in  the  temples,  they 
are  entirely  under  the  direction  of  the  Bra- 
mins;  and  it  is  by  many  supposed,  that  they 
are  also  entirely  appropriated  to  their  plea- 
sures ;  but  however  this  be,  they  are  hardly 
ever  allowed,  like  the  ether  female  dancers 
of  the  country,  to  perform  for  the  amusement 
of  the  public. 

Besides  these  religious  dancers,  there  is 
almost  in  every  large  city,  companies  of  danc- 
ing  girls,  called  Bailiaderes ;  who,  in  the 
manner  of  our  strolling  players,  go  about  for 
the  amusement  of  the  public;  and  who  will 
exhibit  their  performances  at  the  house  of 
any  person,  who  is  able  to  pay  what  they  de- 
mand ;  or  may  be  seen  by  any  one  for  a  trifle 
at  their  public  assemblies.  These  beautiful 
girls  are  constantly  followed  by  an  old  de- 
formed musician,  who  beats  time  with  a  bra- 
sen  instrument,  called  a  Tom ;  and  continu- 

• 

*  When  M*cnood  first  took  the  magnificent  temple 
of  Surr.nai.he  found  there  five  hundred  dancing  girls, 
nnd  three  hundred  music] 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  2Sf 

ally  at  every  stroke  repeats  the  word  Tom 
with  such  vociferation,  that  he  soon  works 
himself  into  a  kind  of  phrenzy — the  Ballia- 
deres,  at  the  same  time  eager  to  please,  and 
intoxicated  with  the  music,  and  the  smell  of 
the  essences  with  which  they  are  perfumed, 
soon  after  begin  to  be  in  the  same  state: 
their  dances  are  in  general  expressive  of  the 
passion  of  love,  and  they  manage  them  so  as 
to  give,  even  the  most  ignorant,  tolerable 
ideas  of  that  passion  in  all  its  different  situa- 
tions and  circumstances — and  so  great  is 
their  beauty,  so  voluptuous  their  figure,  so 
rich  and  ingeniously  contrived  their  dress, 
that  they  seldom  perform  without  drawing 
together  a  numerous  crowd  of  spectators. 

Strolling  female  dancers,  who  live  by  that 
profession,  are  not,  however,  peculiar  to  the 
East  Indies;  they  have  of  late  been  met  with 
fri  Otaheite,  and  several  other  places ;  but  be- 
side their  strolling  dancers  in  Otaheite,  they 
have  a  dance  called  Timoradee,  which  the 
young  girls  perform,  when  eight  or  ten  of  them 
can  be  got  together  ;  it  consists  in  every  mo- 
tion, gesture,  and  tone  of  voice  that  is  truly 
lascivious  ;  and  being  brought  up  to  it  from 
their  childhood, in  every  motion,  and  in  every 
gesture,  they  keep  time  with  an  exactness 
scarcely  excelled  by  the  most  expert  stage, 
dancers  of  Europe.  But  though  this  diver- 
sion is  allowed  to  the  virgin,  it  is  prohibited 
to  the  wife  ;  who,  from  the  moment  of  mar- 
riage, must  abstain  from  it  forever. 


Aa  2 


»S6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 


CHAPTER  LXII. 

Punishment  of  Polygamy  in  Egypt — Semi- 
ramis  of  Assyria — Account  of  the  Sybar- 
ites—  Customs  of  the  Grecian   Women. 

"THE  men  in   Egypt  were  not  allowed  to 
infliilge    m   polygamy.,  a  state  which  always 
presupposes  women  to  be  slaves.     The  chas- 
tity of  virgins  was  protected  by  a  law  of  the 
severest  nature  ;   he  who  committed  a  rape  on 
a  ircc    woman,  had   his  privates  cut  off,  that 
it  might  be  out  of  his  power   ever  to  perpe- 
trate the  like  crime,  and  that  others  might  be 
terrified  by  so  dreadful  a  punishment.     Con- 
cubinage, as  well  as  polygamy,  seems  either 
not  to  have  been  lawful,  or  at  least  not  fashion- 
able ;  it  was  a  liberty,  however,  in  which  their 
hings  were   sometimes  indulged,  for  we  fu  d 
when    Sesostris  set  out  on  his  expedition  to 
conquer  the  world,  he  left  the  government  of 
the  kingdom  to  his  brother,  with  full  power 
over  every  thing,   except  the  royal   diadem, 
the  queen,  and  royal  concubines.  The  queens 
of  Egypt  are  said  to  have  been  much  honor- 
ed, as  well  as  more  readily  obeyed  than  the 
kings  ;  and  it  is  also  related,  that  the  husbands 
were  in  their   marriage-contracts  obliged   to. 
promise  obedience  to   their  wives  ;   a   thing 
which  in  our  modern  times  we  are  often  oblig- 
ed to  perform,  though  our  wives  entered  into 
the  promise. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  2S7 

WHILE  Ninus,  king  of  Assyria,  was  be- 
sieging Bactria,  it    is    sai  !   tlv.it    the  attempt 
would  have  failed,  had  it  not  been  for  the   as- 
sistance of  Semiramis,  then  wife  of  one  of  his 
principal  officers;  who  planned  a  method    of 
attacking  the  city,  with   such  superior  skill, 
that  he  soon  became  master  of  it.     Ninus  be- 
ing attracted  by  the  beauty  and  art  of  this  vi- 
rago, soon  became  passionately  fond   of  her  ; 
in  the  mean  time,  her  husband  foreseeing  that 
this  passion  would  end  in  his  destruction,  to 
avoid  falling  a  victim  to  licentious  despotism, 
privately  put  an  end   to  his  life.     The  main 
Obstacle  being  thus  removed,  Ninus  took  the 
adultress  to  wife,  an  action  which,  acording  to 
some   authors  he  had  soon  reason  to   repent, 
for  she  having  first  brought  over  to  her  interest 
the  principal  men  of  the  state,  next  prevailed 
on  her  silly  husband   to  invest   her,  for  the 
space  of  five  days,  with  the  sovereign  power; 
a  decree  was  accordingly  issued,  that  all  the 
provinces  should  implicitly  obey  her  during 
that  time  ;   which  having  obtained,  she  began 
the  exercise  of  her  sovereignty,  by  putting  to 
death  the  too  indulgent  husband  who  had  con- 
ferred it  on  her,  and  so  securing  to  herself  the 
kingdom.  Other  authors  have  denied  that  Ni- 
nus committed  this  rash,  or  Semiramis  this  ex- 
ecrable deed,  but  all  agree  that  she  succeeded 
her  husband  at  his  death,  in  whatever  manner 
it  happened.     Seeing  herself  at  the  head  of  a 
mighty  empire,and  struck  with  the  love  of  mag- 
nificence and  fame,  she  proposed  to  render  her 
name   immortal,    by    performing  something 
that  should  far  surpass  all  that  had  been  doas 


283  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

by  her  predecessors  ;  the  scheme  she  fell  up- 
on, was  to  build  in  the  space  of  one  year,  the 
mighty  city  of  Babylon  ;  which  being  finish- 
ed within  the  proposed  time,  greatly  exceed- 
ed in  magnificence  any  thing  in  the  world 
had  ever  seen  ;  two  millions  of  men  are  said 
to  have  been  constantly  employed  on  it,  dur- 
ing the  time  it  was  erecting. 


THE  Sybarites,  from  the  imperfect  ac- 
counts we  have  of  them,  placed  the  whole  of 
their  happiness  in  indolence,  eating,  finery,  and 
women.  Their  bodies  were  so  much  relax- 
ed with  sloth,  and  their  minds  with  voluptu- 
ousness, that  the  greatest  affront  that  could 
be  offered  to  any  one,  was  to  call  him  a  Sy- 
barite, an  appellation,  which  comprehended  in 
it  almost  every  human  crime,  and  every  hu- 
man folly.  In  grottos,  cooled  with  foun- 
tains, their  youth  spent  a  great  part  of  their 
time  in  scenes  of  debauchery,  amid  women, 
either  elegantly  adorned  by  art,  or  sometimes 
reduced  to  a  state  of  nature.  Women  of  the 
first  quality,  though  not  disposed  of  by  auc- 
tion, were  treated  in  a  manner  somewhat  si- 
milar ;  they  were  given  as  a  reward  to  him 
who,  in  contending  for  them,  shewed  the 
greatest  splendor  and  magnificence.  When 
any  great  entertainment  was  designed,  the  wo- 
men, who  were  to  make  a  part  of  the  compa- 
ny, were  invited  a  year  before,  that  they  might 
have  time  to  appear  in  all  the  lustre  of  beauty 
and  of  dress;  a  circumstance  which  plainly 
proves  that  they  did  not,  as  some  other  na» 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  2S9 

dons,  value  the  sex  only  as  objects  of  sensu- 
al pleasure,  but  as  objects  which  added  ele- 
gance to  their  scenes  of  magnificence  and 
grandeur  ;  and  perhaps  because  they  excell- 
ed the  men  in  softness  and  effeminacy,  quali- 
ties upon  which  they  set  the  greatest  value, 
and  cultivated  with  the  utmost  asbiduity. — 
These  people,  after  having  been  for  many  cen- 
turies the  contempt  of  the  universe,  were  at 
last  shamefully  driven  from  their  country, 
and  entirely  dispersed  by  the  Cratonians. 


BUT  confinement  was  not  the  greatest  evil 
which  the  Grecian  women  suffered  ;  by  o- 
ther  customs  and  laws  they  were  still  more 
oppressed  :  it  was  not  in  their  power  to  do 
any  judicial  act  without  the  consent  of  a  tu- 
tor or  guardian  ;  and  so  little  power,  even  o-' 
ver  themselves,  did  the  legislature  devolve 
upon  women,  though  ripened  by  age  and  ex- 
perience, that  when  the  father  died,  the  son 
became  the  guardian  of  his  own  mother. 
When  a  woman  was  cited  into  court,  she  was 
incapable  of  answering  without  her  guardian  ; 
and  therefore  the  words  of  the  proclamation 
were,  "  We  cite  A.  B.  and  her  guardian*" 
In  making  a  will,  it  was  not  only  necessary 
that  the  guardian  should  give  his  consent,  but 
that  he  should  be  a  party.  These  facts  shew, 
that  the  Greek  women  were  under  the  most 
complete  tutelage,  whereby  they  were  depriv- 
ed of  almost  all  political  existence  ;  and  teach 
us  to  consider  a  guardian  and  his  pupil  as  the 
substance  and  the  shadow,  the  later  of  which 


2$o  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

could  not  exist  without  the  former.  But  this 
is  not  all ;  we  have  already  mentioned  some 
of  the  slavish  employments  to  which  they 
were  put,  and  shall  now  add,  that  in  the  hero- 
ic ages,  the  women  did  all  the  slavish  and  do- 
mestic offices,  even  such  as  were  inconsistent 
with  the  delicacy  and  modesty  of  the  sex  ; 
they  conducted  the  men  to  bed,  dressed  and 
undressed  them,  attended  them  while  in  the 
baths,  dried  and  perfumed  them  when  they 
came  out  of  them  ;  nor  were  these,  and  such 
other  cilices  only  alloted  to  servants  or  slaves  ; 
no  rank  was  exempted  from  them.  The 
princess  Naussica,  daughter  of  Alcinous,  car- 
ried her  own  linen  to  the  river  in  a  chariot, 
and  having  washed  and  laid  it  on  the  bank,  sat 
down  by  it,  and  dined  on  the  provision  she 
had  brought  along  with  her.  When  such  was 
the  employment  of  their  own  women  of  rank, 
we  cannot  expect  that  their  captives  should 
share  a  happier  fate  ;  accordingly,  we  find 
Hector  lamenting,  that,  should  Troy  be  taken, 
his  wife  would  be  condemned  to  the  most 
slavish  drudgery  ;  and  Hecuba  bewailing, 
th at,  like  a  cic^  she  was  chained  at  the  gate 
of  Agamemnon. 

In  the  state  of  wedlock,  a  state  of  all  others 
the  most  delicate,  the  Lacademonians  seem  to 
have  been  destitute  of  all  the  finer  feelings  ; 
for,  despising  that  principle  of  mutual  fidelity, 
which  in  some  degree  appears  to  have  been 
cherished  by  every  people  only  a  single  de- 
gree removed  from  the  rudest  barbarity,  they 
without  any  reluctancy,  borrowed  and  lent 
wives  with  each  other  ;  a  kind  of  barter  to 


THE  PAIR  SEX.  agx 

tally  inconsistent  with  that  sympathetic  union 
of  souls,  which  always  does,  or  ought  to  take 
place,  between  husband  and  wife  :  but  the 
n  Mtrrdid  not  end  here  ;  for,  by  the  htws  of 
Solon,  a  lusty  well-made  young  fallow  might, 
when  he  pleased,  demand  permission  to  coha- 
bit with  the  wife  of  any  of  his  fellow  citizens, 
who  was  less  handsome  and  robust  than  him- 
self,  under  pretence  of  raising  up  children  to 
the  state,  who  should,  like  the  father  be  strong 
and  vigorous  ;  and  such  an  unreasonable  de- 
mand, the  husband  was  not  at  liberty  to  re- 
ject :  what  still  further  shews  how  little  de- 
licacy existed  in  their  connections  with  their 
wives,  is  their  conduct  in  a  war  with  the 
Myssinians  ;  when,  having  bound  themselves 
by  a  solemn  oath,  not  to  return  to  their  own 
city  till  they  had  revenged  the  injury  they  had 
received,  and  the  war  having  been  unexpect- 
edly protracted  for  the  space  often  years,  they 
began  to  be  afraid  that  a  longer  absence  would 
tend  greatly  to  depopulate  their  state  ;  to  pre- 
vent which,  they  sent  back  a  certain  number 
of  those  who  had  joined  the  army,  after  the  a- 
bove  mentioned  oath  had  been  taken,  with 
full  power  to  cohabit  with  all  the  v/ives,  whose 
husbands  were  absent.  Nothing  can  more 
plainly  discover  the  despicable  condition  of 
the  Grecian  women  :  the  state,  as  a  body  po- 
litic, regarded  them  only  as  instruments  of 
general  propagation  ;  and  their  husbands  in- 
delicately acquiesced  in  the  idea,  which  they 
never  could  have  done,  had  they  been  actu- 
ated by  any  thing  but  animal  appetite,  and 


29a  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

had  not  that  appetite  been  fixed  more  on  the 
sex  than  the  individual. 


CHAPTER  LXIIL 

Rape  of  the  Sabine  Virgins —  Women  of  Scy- 
ihh\  Messaged —  Cruelty  of  Amestris. 

WHEN  Romulus,  the  founder  of  Rome, 
had  formed  his  infant  republic,  finding  that 
he  had  no  women,  and  that  none  of  the  neigh- 
boring nations  would  give  their  daughters  in 
marriage  to  men  whom  they  considered  as  a 
set  of  lawless  banditti  ;  he  was  obliged  by- 
stratagem  to  procure  for  his  citizens,  what  he 
could  not  obtain  for  them  by  Entreaty.  Ac- 
cordingly, having  proclaimed  a  solemn  feast, 
and  an  exhibition  of  games  in  honor  of  Eques- 
trian Neptune,  and  by  that  means  gathered  a 
great  number  of  people  together  ;  on  a  sig- 
nal given,*thc  Romans,  with  drawn  swords  in 
their  hands,  rushed  among  the  strangers,  and 
forcibly  carried  away  a  great  number  of  their 
daughters  to  Rome.  The  next  day  Romulus 
himself  distributed  them  as  wives  to  those  of 
his  citizens,  who  had  thus  by  violence  carried 
them  away.  From  so  rude  a  beginning,  and  a- 
monga  people  so  severe  and  inflexible  as  the 
Romans,  it  is  not  unnatural  for  the  reader  to 
expect  to  find,  that  women  were  treated  in  the 
same  indignant,  if  not  in  a  worse  manner,  than 
they  were  among  the  nations  we  have  already 
mentioned.  In  this,  however,  he  will  be  mis- 
taken ;  It  was  the  Remans  who  first  gave  to 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  293 

the  sex  public  liberty,  who  first  properly  cul- 
tivated their  minds,  and  thought  it  as  necessary 
as  to  adorn  their  bodies  :  among  them  were 
they  first  fitted  for  society,  and  for  becoming 
rational  companions ;  and  among  them,  was  it 
first  demonstrated  to  the  world,  that  they  were 
capable  of  great  actions,  and  deserved  a  bet- 
ter fate  than  to  be  shut  up  in  seraglios,  and 
kept  only  as  the  pageants  of  grandeur,  or  in- 
struments of  satisfying  illicit  love  ;  truths 
which  the  sequel  of  the  history  of  the  Sabine 
women  will  amply  confirm. 

The  violent  capture  of  these  young  women 
by  the  Romans,  was  highly  resented  by  all 
the  neighboring  nations,  and  especially  by  the 
Sabines,  to  whom  the  greatest  part  of  them 
belonged  ;  they  sent  to  demand  restitution  of 
their  daughters,  promising,  at  the  same  time,  an 
alliance,  and  liberty  of  intermarrying  with  the 
Romans,  should  the  demand  be  complied  with. 
But  Romulus  not  thinking  it  expedient  to  part 
with  the  only  possible  means  he  had  of  rais- 
ing citizens,  instead  of  granting  what  they  ask- 
ed, demanded  of  the  Sabines,  that  they  should 
confirm  the  marriages  of  their  daughters  with 
the  Romans.  These  conferences,  at  last, 
produced  a  treaty  of  peace  ;  and  that,  like 
many  others  of  the  same  nature,  ended  in  a 
more  inveterate  war.  The  Romans  having  in 
this  gained  some  advantages,  the  Sabines  re- 
tired ;  and  having  breathed  awhile,  sent  a  se- 
cond embassy  to  demand  their  daughters, 
were  again  refused,  and  again  commenced 
hostilities.  Being  this  time  more  successful, 
they  besieged  Romulus  in  his  citadel  of  Rome, 
B  b 


294         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

and  threatened  immediate  destruction  to  him 
and  all  his  people,  unless  their  daughters  were 
restored.  In  this  alarming  situation,  Hersilia, 
wife  of  Romulus,  demanded  an  audience  of 
the  senate,  and  laid  before  them  a  design, 
which  the  women  had  formed  among  them- 
selves, without  the  knowledge  of  their  hus- 
bands, which  was  to  act  the  part  of  mediators 
between  the  contending  parties.  The  propo- 
sal being  approved,  a  decree  was  immediate- 
ly passed,  permitting  the  women  to  go  on  the 
proposed  negociation  ;  and  only  requiring, 
that  each  of  them  should  leave  one  of  her 
children,  as  a  security  that  she  would  return  ; 
the  rest,  they  were  all  allowed  to  carry  ,  with 
them,  as  objects  which  might  more  effectual- 
ly move  the  compassion  of  their  fathers  and 
relations.  Thus  authorised,  the  women  laid 
aside  their  ornaments,  put  on  mourning,  and 
carrying  their  children  in  their  arms,  advanc- 
ed to  the  camp  of  the  Sabines,  and  threw 
themselves  at  the  feet  of  their  fathers.  The 
Sabine  king,  having  assembled  his  chief  of- 
ficers, ordered  the  women  to  declare  for  what 
purpose  they  were  come  ;  which  Hersilia 
did  in  so  pathetic  a  manner,  that  she  brought 
on  a  conference  between  the  chiefs  of  the  two 
nations,  and  this  conference,  by  her  media- 
tion, and  that  of  the  other  women,  soon  end- 
ed in  an  amicable  alliance. 


THIS  corruption  of  manners  reigned  but 
too  universally  among  the  ancients.  The 
Messaged,  a  people  of  Scythia,  being  confin- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  29$ 

ed  to  "one  wife,  while  the  nations  around  them 
were  indulged  with  the  liberty  of  polygamy 
and  concubinage  ;  in  order  to  put  themselves 
in  some  decree  on  a  footing  with  their  neigh- 
bors, introduced  a  kind  of  community  of  wives, 
and  a  man  who  had  an  inclination  to  the  wife 
of  his  friend  only  earned  her  into  his  waggon 
or  hut,  and  hung  up  a  quiver  while  she  wafc 
there,  as  a  sign,  that  they  plight  not  be  hrter- 
ruoted.  In  tin's  manner  Were  dccenc) 
the  most  sacred  ties  of  matrimony  publicly  vi- 
olated ;  but  what  decency,  what  regard  to  the 
most  solemn  institutions  can  we  expect  in  a 
people  who  were  so  rude  and  barbarous,  that 
when  any  of  their  relations  became  old,  they 
met  together,  and  along  with  some  cattle  set 
apart  for  the  purpose,  sacrificed  them  to  their 
gods  ;  then  having  boiled  together  the  flesh 
of  the  human  and  the  more  ignoble  victims, 
they  devoured  it  as  a  most  delicious  repast. 
The  Lydians  were  still  more  debauched  than 
the  Mtssageta*.  In  the  reign  of  Jardanes,  so 
ungovernable  was  their  lust,  that  Omphale,  the 
kings  only  daughter,  could  scarcely,  even 
within  the  walls  of  the  royal  palace,  find  shel- 
ter from  the  licentious  multitude.  Omphale 
at  length  succeeding  to  the  throne  of  her  fa- 
ther, punished  with  the  utmost  seventy  such 
as  had  formerly  abused  her  ;  on  the  women, 
whom  it  appears  she  considered  as  not  less 
criminal  than  the  men,  she  revenged  herself 
in  a  singular  manner  ;  she  ordered,  that  over 
all  her  kingdom,  they  should  be  shut  up  with 
thejr  slaves, 


^ 


*»6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

The  Scythians,  whose  character  is  far  from 
being  the  most  abandoned  of  the  ancients, 
seem  not  to  have  much  cause  to  boast  of  the 
chastity  and  fidelity  of  their  women  ;  the 
greatest  part  of  their  men  having  on  some 
occasion  made  an  expedition  into  Asia, 
were  detained  much  beyond  thtir  expectation, 
when  their  wives,  cither  impatient  for  thtir 
long  absence,  or  despairing  of  their  return, 
tcok  their  servants  and  slaves,  and  invested 
them  in  all  the  privileges  of  their  absent  hus- 
bands. These,  sometime  after  hearing  that 
their  masters  were  about  to  return,  fortified 
and  irtrenehed  themselves,  in  order  to  hinder 
them  from  entering  into  their  own  country, 
and  claiming  their'  wives  and  possessions. 
The  Scythians  having  advanced  to  their  slaves, 
several  skirmishes  were  fought  between  them, 
with  doubtful  success,  when  one  of  their  lead- 
ers advised  his  countrymen  not  to  fight  again 
with  their  own  slaves  as  with  equals,  nor  to  at- 
tack them  with  warlike  weapons,  which  were 
signs  of  freedom,  but  with  such  whips  and 
scourges  as  they  had  formerly  been  accustomed 
to  make  them  feel.  Tins  advice  being  put  into 
execution,  the  whips  recalled  their  ideas  of 
slavery,  and  all  the  pusillanimity  naturally  at- 
tending it ;  they  threw  down  their  arms  and 
fled  in  confusion,  many  of  them  were  taken 
and  put  to  death,  and  not  a  few  of  the  unfaith- 
ful wives  destroyed  themselves,  to  avoid  the 
resentment  of  their  injured  husbands.  Tho' 
this  story  has  been  by  different  authors  varied 
in  several  of  its  circumstances,  yet  as  so  ma- 
my  have  agreed  in  seating  it,  we  have  not 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  297 

the  least  doubt  of  its  authenticity,  especially 
as  we  are  assured  that  the  Novcgorodians, 
whose  city  stands  in  Sarmatian  Scythia,  had 
formerly  a  coin  stamped  in  memory  of  it,  with 
a  man  on  horseback  shaking  a  whip  in  his 
band  ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  ancient  cus 
torn  in  Russia,  which  is  now  happily  forgot, 
of  the  bride  presenting  the  bridegroom  on  the 
nuptial  night  with  a  whip,  originated  from  this 
story  of  the  Scythian  wives.  . 


IN  countries  where  there  is,  as  in  Persia, 
an  unlimited  liberty  of  polygamy  and  concu- 
binage, jealousy  in  the  fair  sex  is  a  passion 
much  weakened  by  the  variety  of  objects 
that  divide  it,  and  the  restraint  laid  ©n  it  by 
the  despotism  of  the  men;  we  should  not 
therefore  expect  to  find  it  operating  very 
strongly.  But  even  here,  where  the  king  is 
the  severest  despot  of  the  country,  and  wo- 
men only  the  tools  of  his  lust,  and  slaves  of 
his  power,  we  meet  with  instances  of  this 
passion  exerting  itself  in  the  most  cruel  man- 
ner. Xemes,  among  many  other  amours, 
had  conceived  a  passion  for  the  wife  of  his 
brother  Masistus,  which  he  prosecuted  for  a 
long  time  by  promises  and  threafenirigs, 
without  any  success,  when  quite  tired  of  so 
many  fruitless  efforts,  he  at  last  changed  his 
attack  from  the  mother  to  her  daughter,  who, 
with  much  less  opposition,  yielded  herself  to 
his  wishes.  Amestris  his  queen,  having  dis- 
covered the  amour,  and  imagining  that  the 
danghter  only  acted  !>v  the  direction  of  her 
B'ba- 


298  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

mother,  from  that  moment  resolved  on  the 
severest  revenge.  By  ancient  custom  in  Per- 
sia,  the  queen  had  a  right,  on  the  king's  birth- 
day,  to  demand  of  him  any  favour  that  she 
thought  proper ;  Amestris  asked  that  the  wife 
of  Masistus  should  be  delivered  into  her 
hands,  whom  she  had  no  sooner  received,  than 
she  ordered  her  breasts,  nose,  tongue  and 
lips  to  be  cut  off,  and  thrown  to  the  dogs, 
and  that  she  should  be  detained  to  see  her 
own  flesh  devoured  by  them. 

Among  a  people   so  abandoned,    and    so 
much  the  slaves  of  cruelty  and  lust,  a  people 
who  made  every  thing  subservient  to  volup- 
tuousness and  debauchery,  it  is    natural  to 
think  that  modesty  among  the  fair  sex  could 
scarcely  have  any  existence.    This,  however, 
was  not  universally  the  case ;  a  few  women, 
even  in  Persia,  were  far  from  being  destitute 
of  that  modesty  and  sensibility  which  are  the 
ornament  of   their  sex,  and   the  delight  of 
ours.     Alossa,   the  daughter  of  Cyrus,  and 
the   wife  of  Darius,   being  attacked  with  a 
cancer  in  her  breast,  and  thinking  it  incon- 
sistent with  the  modesty  of  her  sex  to  disco- 
ver the  diseased  part,  suffered  in  silence,  till 
the  pain  became  intolerable,  when,  after  ma- 
ny struggles  in  her  own  mind,  she  at  last  pre- 
vailed on  herself  to  shew  it  to  Democedes, 
her  physician.     We   might   mention    more 
particular  instances  of  the  modesty  of    the 
Persian  women,  but  we  pass  over  them,  to 
take  notice  of  an  anecdote  of  a  lady  in  a 
neighbouring  kingdom,  which  shews,  that,  in 
'the  times  under  review,  there  were  some 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  297 

women  susceptible  of  sentiment  and  feeling ; 
things  which  arc  not  frequently  met  with  in 
the  East.  Tygranes  and  his  new  married 
wife  being  taken  prisoners  by  Cyrus,  Ty- 
granes  offered  a  great  ransom  for  her  liberty  ; 
Cyrus  generously  released  them  both  without 
any  reward  ;  as  soon  as  they  were  alone,  the 
happy  couple,  naturally  falling  into  a  dis- 
course concerning  their  benefactor;  "  What 
do  you  think,"  said  Tygranes,  "  of  his  as- 
pect and  deportment  ?"  "  I  did  not  observe 
either,"  said  the  lady.  "  Upon  what  then 
did  you  fix  your  eyes,"  said  Tygranes  ? 
"  Upon  the  man,"  returned  she,  "  who  gen- 
erously offered  so  great  a  ransom  for  my 
liberty." 

So  little  was  modesty  and  chastity  cultivat- 
ed among  the  ancients,  that  many  nations 
seem  to  have  had  no  idea  of  either.  The 
Ausi,  a  people  of  Lybia,  cohabited  so  pro- 
miscuously with  their  women,  that  the  whole 
of  the  children  of  the  state  were  considered 
as  a  community  till  they  were  able  to  walk 
alone,  when,  being  brought  by  their  mothers 
into  a  public  assembly  of  the  people,  the 
man  to  whom  a  child  first  spoke  was  obliged 
to  acknowledge  himself  its  father.  The 
wives  of  the  Bactrians  were,  through  a  long 
series  of  years,  famed  for  licentiousness ;  and 
custom  had  given  such  sanction  to  their 
crimes,  that  the  husbands  had  not  only  lost 
all  power  of  restraining  them,  but  even  durst 
hardly  venture  to  complain  of  their  infidelity. 
In  Cyprus,  an  island  sacred  to  Venus,  the 
very  rites  of  their  religion  were  all  mingled 


3©o  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  Of 

with  debauchery  and  prostitution.  And  the 
Lydians,  and  many  other  nations,  publicly 
prostituted  their  daughters,  and  other  f  male 
relations,  for  hire.  But  to  multiply  instances 
of  the  depravity  of  ancient  manners  would 
be  endless;  mankind,  even  when  bridled  by 
the  strongest  penal  laws,  and  restricted  in 
their  passions  by  the  sacred  voice  of  religion, 
are  but  too  often,  in  the  pursuit  of  unlawful 
pleasures,  apt  to  disregard  both ;  what  then 
must  they  have  been  before  society,  before 
laws  existed,  and  when  religion  lent  its  sanc- 
tion to  encourage  the  vices  and  deprave  the 
heart  ?  In  those  times  we  have  the  greatest 
reason  to  believe  that  debauchery  reigned 
with  but  little  controul  over  two-thirds  of  the 
habitable  globe. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

Japanese  Delicacy — Delicacy  of  the  Lydians — 
Licentious  Law  of  Denmark — Extraor di- 
nary  ivojnen* 

AMONG  people  holding  a  middling  de- 
gree, or  rather  perhaps  something  below  a 
middle  degree,  between  the  most  uncultivat- 
ed rusticity,  and  the  most  refined  politeness, 
we  find  female  delicacy  in  its  highest  perfec- 
tion. The  Japanese  are  but  just  emerged 
some  degrees  above  savage  barbarity,  and  in 
their  history  we  are  presented  by  Kempfer, 
with  an  instance  of  the  effect  of  delicacy, 
which  perhaps  has  not  a  parallel  in  any  other 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  301 

country.     A  lady  being  at  a  table  in  a  pro- 
miscuous company,   in   reaching  for  bome- 
thing  that  she  wanted,  accidently  broke  wind 
backwards,   by  which   her  delicacy    was    so 
much  wounded,  that  she  immediately  arose* 
laid   hold  on  her  breasts  with  her  teeth,  and 
tore  them   till  she  expired  on  the  spot.     In 
Scotland,  and  a  tew  other  parts  of  the  north 
of  Europe,  where  the  inhabitants  are  some 
degrees  farther  advanced  in  politeness  than 
the  Japanese,  a  woman  would  be  almost  as 
much  ashamed  to  be  detected  going  to  the 
temple  of  Cloacina,  as  to  that  of  Venus.    In 
England,  to  go  in  the  most  open  manner  to 
that  of  the  former,  hardly  occasions  a  blush 
on  the  most  delicate  cheek.     At  Paris,  we 
are  told  that  a  gallant  frequently  accompanies 
his  mistress  to  the   shrine  of  the   goddess, 
stands  centinel  at  the  door,  and  entertains  her 
with  bonmots,  and  protestations  of  love  all 
the  time  she  is  worshipping  there;  and  that 
a  hdy  when  in  a  carnage,  whatever  company 
be  along  with  her,  if  called  upon  to  exone- 
rate nature,  pulls  the  cord,  orders  the  driver 
to  stop,    steps    out,    and   having    performed 
what  nature  required,  resumes  her  seat  with- 
out the  least  ceremony  or  discomposure. — 
The   Parisian   women,   as  well   as  those  in 
many  of  the  other  large   towns   of  France, 
even  in  the  most  public  companies  make  no 
scruple  of  talking  concerning  those   secrets 
of  their  sex,  which  almost  in  every  other 
country  are  reckoned  indelicate  in  the  ears 
of  the  men :  nay,  so  little  is  their  reserve  on 
this  head,  that  a  young  lady  on  being  asked 


.C2  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

by  her  lover  to  dance,  will  without  blush  or 
hesitation,  excuse  herself  on  account  of  the 
impropriety  of  doing  so  in  her  present  cir- 
cumstances. The  Italians,  it  is  said,  carry 
their  indelicacy  still  farther  :  women  even  of 
character  and  fashion,  when  asked  a  favour 
of  another  kind,  will  with  the  utmost  com- 
posure decline  the  proposal  on  account  of 
Ixing  at  present  under  a  course  of  medicine 
for  the  cure  of  a  certain  disorder.  When  a 
people  have  arrived  at  that  point  in  the  scale 
of  politeness,  which  entirely  discards  delica- 
cy, the  chastity  of  their  women  must  be  at  a 
low  ebb;  for  delicacy  is  the  centinel  that  is 
placed  over  female  \irtue,  and  that  centinel 
once  overcome,  chastity  is  more  than  hall' 
conquered. 


EVEN  among  the  Lydians,  a  people  who 
were  highly  debauched,  it  appears  that  female 
delicacy  was  far  from  being  totally  extin- 
guished; Candaules,  one  of  their  kings,  be- 
ing married  to  a  lady  of  exquisite  beauty, 
was  perpetually  boasting  of  her  charms  to  his 
courtiers,  and  at  last,  to  satisfy  his  favourite 
Gyges  that  he  had  not  exaggerated  the  de- 
scription, he  took  the  dangerous  and  indeli- 
cate resolution  of  giving  him  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  her  naked.  To  accomplish  this, 
Gyges- was  conveyed  by  the  king  into  a  secret 
place,  where  he  might  see  the  queen  dress 
and  undress,  from  whence,  however,  as  he 
retired,  she  accidently  spied  him,  but  taking 
no  notice  of  him  for  the  present,  she  only  set 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  303 

herself  to  consider  the  most  proper  method 
of  revenging  her  injured  modesty,  and  pun- 
ishing her  indelicate  husband;  having  resolv- 
ed how  to  proceed,  she  sent  for  Gyges,  an<J 
told  him  that  as  she  could  not  tamely  submit 
to  the  stain  which  had  been  offered  to  her  ho- 
nour, she  insisted  that  he  should  expiate  his 
crime  either  by  his  own  death  or  tiiat  of  the 
king,  that  two  men  might  not  be  living  at  the 
same  time  who  had  thus  seen  her  in  a  state  of 
nature.  Gyges,  after  some  fruitless  remon- 
strances, performed  the  latter,  married  the 
queen,  snd  mounted  the  throne  of  Lydia. — 
Besides  the  fables  and  historical  anecdotes  of 
antiquity,  their  poets  seldom  exhibited  a  fe- 
male character  in  its  loveliest  form,  without 
adorning  it  with  the  graces  of  modesty  and 
delicacy ;  hence  we  may  infer,  that  these 
qualities  have  not  only  been  always  essential 
to  virtuous  women  in  civilized  countries,  but 
have  been  also  constantly  praised  and  esteem- 
ed by  men  of  sensibility. 

Piutarch,  in  his  treatise,  entitled,  "  The 
Virtuous  Actions  of  Women,"  mentions  se- 
veral anecdotes  which  strongly  favour  our  i- 
deas  of  delicacy  being  an  innate  principle  in 
the  female  mind  ;  the  most  striking  is  that  of 
the  young  women  of  Milesia,  many  of  whom, 
about  that  time  of,  life,  when  nature  giving 
birth  to  restless  and  turbulent  desires  inflames 
the  imagination,  and  astonishes  the  heart  at 
the  sensatioo  of  wants  which  virtue  forbids  to 
gratify,  to  free  themselves  from  the  conflict 
between  nature  and  virtue,  laid  violent  hands 
on  themselves  ;  the  contagion  becoming  every 


3»4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

day  more  general,  to  put  a  stop  to  it,  a  law 
was  made,  ordaining  that  every  one  who  com- 
mitted that  crime  should  be  brought  naked 
to  the  market  place  and  publicly  exposed  to 
the  people  ;  and  so  powerfully  did  the  idea  of 
this  indelicate  exposure,  even  after  death,  ope- 
rate on  their  minds,  that  from  thenceforth  not 
one  of  them  ever  made  an  attempt  on  her  own 
life. 


THIS  institution  of  auricular  confession,  in 
the  light  which  we  have  just  now  considered 
it,  lays  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  unchastity, 
by  exposing  it  to  public  shame,  which  in  all 
civilized  countries  is  one  of  the  strongest  pas- 
sions which  mark  the  female  character.  But 
women  are  now  become  too  cunning  to  fall 
into  the  snare  ;  and  while  their  actions  of  this 
kind  remain  private,  it  is  presumable  they 
seldom  confess  them.  But  as  the  exposure 
to  public  shame  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 
methods  of  laying  hold  of  the  mind  of  the  sex, 
the  laws  of  society,  as  well  as  those  of  religi- 
ous institutions,  have  availed  themselves  of  it, 
and  made  it,  among  every  polished  people,  one 
of  the  severest  parts  of  the  punishment  to  which 
the  female  delinquent,  who  has  departed  from 
the  path  of  rectitude,  is  exposed  ;  and  conse- 
quently one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  which 
can  be  thrown  in  the  road  to  unchastity.  This 
appears  from  the  conduct  of  the  women  of 
Iceland,  when  the  public  shame  attending  in- 
continency  was  suspended  on  the  following; 
occasion  :    In  the  year   one  thousand  seven 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  3*3 

hundred  and  seven,  a  great  part  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  Iceland  having  died  of  a  contagious 
distemper,  the  king  of  Denmark,  in  order  to 
repeople  the  country  in  a  more  expeditious 
manner  than  the  common  rules  of  procrea- 
tion admitted  of,  made  a  law,  authorising  all 
young  women  to  have  each  six  bastards, 
without  being  exposed  to  any  shame,  or  suf- 
fering the  loss  of  reputation.  This  succeed- 
ed beyond  the  expectation  of  the  monarch  ; 
and  the  young  women  employed  themselves 
so  sedulously  in  the  affair  of  population,  that, 
In  a  few  years,  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
abrogate  the  law,  least  the  country  should  be 
overstocked  with  inhabitants,  and  that  sense 
of  shame  annexed  to  imchastity,  so  much  ob-« 
iiterated  from  the  female  breast,  that  neither 
law  nor  custom  would  be  able  afterwards  to 
revive  it.  Were  it  not  almost  self-evident 
to  every  one,  that  this  public  shame  attend- 
ing female  indiscretion,  is  one  of  the  strong- 
est motives  to  secure  their  chastity,  we  might 
prove  it  more  fully  from  other  circumstances. 
Nothing  can  be  more  certain,  than  that  in 
those  countries  where  no  shame  is  fixed  to 
any  action,  there  is  no  public  chastity ;  and 
that  this  virtue  flourishes  the  most,  where  its 
contrary  vices  are  branded  with  the  very 
greatest  degree  of  infamy. 


WHAT  we  have  now  advanced,  points 

out  to  us  the  reason,  why  women  have  st.-l- 

dom   or  never  contributed  to  the  impr  jve- 

mer.t  of  the  abstract  sciences  :  but  there  is 

C  c 


3*6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

still  another  reason  ;  the  sex  are  almost  every 
where  neglected  in  their  education,  and  in 
some  degree  slaves ;  and  it  is  well  known, 
that  slavery  throws  a  damp  on  the  genius, 
clouds  the  spirits,  and  takes  more  than  half 
the  worth  away  from  every  human  being. — 
The   history  of  every  period,  and  of  every 
people,  presents  us  with  some  extraordinary 
women,  who  have  soared  above  all  these  dis- 
advantages, and  shone  in  all  the  different  cha- 
racters, which  render  men  eminent  and  con- 
spicuous.    Syria  furnishes  us  with  a  Semi- 
ramis,  Africa  with  a  Zenobia^    both  famous 
for  their  heroism  and  skill  in  government. — ■- 
Greece  and  Rome,  with  many  who  set  public 
examples  of  courage  and  fortitude ;  Germa- 
ny   and    England   have   exhibited    queens, 
whose  talents  in  the  field,  and  in  the  cabinet, 
would  have  done  honor  to  any  sex ;  but  it 
was    reserved   for   Russia,    in     the   person 
of   the  present    Empress,  to  join  both   ta- 
lents, and  to  add  to  them,  what  is  still  more 
noble,  an  inclination  to  favour  the  sciences, 
and  restore  the  natural  rights  of  mankind; 
rights  which  almost  every  other  sovereign  has 
endeavoured  to  destroy.     Upon  the  whole, 
we  may  conclude,  that  though  in  the  pro- 
gress of  mankind  from  ignorance  to  know- 
ledge, women  have.,  for  the  reasons  already 
assigned,  seldom  taken  the   lead,  yet  they 
have  not  been  backward  to  fellow  the  path  to 
utility  or  improvement,  when  pointed  out  to 
them. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  $#9 

CHAPTER  LXV. 

Courage  of  Savage  women — Desperate  act 
of  Euthira — Luxurious  Dress  of  tfic  Gre- 
cian Ladies — First  use  of  Hair  Poxuder. 

AMONG  the  Esquimaux,  and  several 
ether  savage  people,  the  women  go  out  to 
hunt  and  fish  along  with  the  men.  In  these 
excursions,  it  is  necessary  for  them  not  only 
to  have  courage  to  attack  whatever  comes  in 
their  way,  but  to  encounter  the  storms  of  a 
tempestuous  climate,  and  endure  the  hard- 
ships of  famine,  and  every  other  evil,  inci- 
dent to  such  a  mode  of  life,  in  so  inhospita- 
ble a  country.  In  some  places,  where  the 
woods  afford  little  game  for  the  subsistence 
of  the  natives,  and  they  are  consequently 
obliged  to  procure  it  from  the  stormy  seas 
which  surround  them,  women  hardly  show 
less  courage,  or  less  dexterity,  in  encounter- 
ing the  waves,  than  the  men.  In  Greenland, 
they  wiil  put  off  to  sea  in  a  vessel ;  and  in  a 
storm,  which  would  make  the  most  hardy 
European  tremble.  In  many  of  the  islands 
of  the  South  Sea,  they  will  plunge  into  the 
waves,  and  swim  through  the  surf,  which  no 
European  dare  attempt.  In  Himia,  one  of 
the  Greek  Islands,  young  girls,  before  they 
be  permitted  to  marry,  are  obliged  to  fish  up 
a  certain  quantity  of  pearls,  aad  dive  for 
them  at  a  certain  depth.  Many  of  the  other 
pearl-fisheries  are  carried  on  by  women,  who, 
besides  the  danger  of  diving,  are  exposed  to 


3&8  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

attacks  of  the  voracious  shark,  and  other 
ravenous  sea-animals,  who  frequently  watch 
to  devour  them. 


IN  ancient  and  modern  history,  we  are 
frequently  presented  with  accounts  of  women, 
who,  preferring  death  to  slavery  or  prostitu- 
tion, sacrificed  their  lives  with  the  most  un- 
daunted courage  to  avoid  them.  Apollodo- 
rus  tells  us,  that  Hercules  having  taken  the 
city  of  Troy,  prior  to  the  famous  siege  of  it 
celebrated  by  Homer,  carried  away  captive 
the  daughters  of  Laomedon  then  king.  One 
of  these,  named  Euthira,  being  left  with  se- 
veral other  Trojan  captives  on  board  the  Gre- 
cian fleet,  while  the  sailors  went  on  shore  to 
take  in  fresh  provisions,  had  the  resolution  to 
propose,  and  the  power  to  persuade  her  com- 
,ns,  to  set  the  ships  on  fire,  and  to  per- 
ish themselves  amid  the  devouring  flames. — 
The  women  of  Phoenicia  met  together  before 
an  engagement  which  was  to  decide  the  fate 
of  their  city,  and  having  agreed  to  bury 
themselves  in  the  flames,  if  their  husbands 
and  relations  were  defeated,  in  the  enthusi- 
asm of  their,  courage  and  resolution,  they 
crowned  her  with  flowers  who  first  made  the 
proposal.  Many  instances  occur  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Romans,  of  the  Gauls  and  Ger- 
mans, and  of  other  nations  in  subsequent  pe- 
riods ;  where  women  being  driven  to  despair 
by  .their  enemies,  have  bravely  defended  their 
walls,  or  waded  through  fields  of  blood  to 
,':  then;  countrymen-  and  free  themselves 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  309 

from  slavery  or  from  ravishment.  Such  he- 
roic efforts  arc  beauties,  even  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  softer  sex,  when  they  proceed  from 
necessity  :  when  from  choice,  they  are  blem- 
ishes of  the  most  unnatural  kind,  indicating 
a  heart  of  cruelty,  lodged  in  a  form  which 
has  the  appearance  of  gentleness  and  peace. 
It  has  been  alleged  by  some  of  the  writers 
on  human  nature,  that  to  the  fair  sex  the  loss 
of  beauty  is  more  alarming  and  insupporta- 
ble than  the  loss  of  life ;  but  even  this  loss, 
however  opposite  to  the  feelings  of  their  na- 
ture, they  have  voluntarily  consented  to  sus- 
tain, that  they  might  not  be  the  objects  of 
temptation  to  the  lawless  ravisher.  The  nuns 
of  a  convent  in  France,  fearing  they  should 
be  violated  by  a  ruffian  army,  which  had  ta- 
ken by  storm  the  town  in  which  their  cop.? 
vent  was  situated,  at  the  recommendation  of 
their  abbess,  mutually  agreed  to  cut  off  all 
4heir  noses,  that  they  might  save  their  chasti- 
ty by  becoming  objects  of  disgust  instead  of 
.desire.  Were  we  to  descend  to  particulars. 
We  could  give  innumerable  instances  of  wc*. 
inen,  who  from  Semiramis  down, to  the  pre- 
sent time,  have  distinguished  themselves  by 
their  courage.  Such  was  Penihesilea,  who, 
if  we  may  credit  ancient  story,  led  her  army 
of  viragoes  to  the  assistance  qf  Priam  .king  of 
Troy  ;  Thorny  ris,  who  encountered  ;Cyrus 
king  of  Persia ;  and  Thalestris,.  famcus  for 
her  righting,  as  well  as  for  her  amours  with 
Alexander  the  Great  Such  was  Bcvtlieca} 
queen  of  the  Britons,  who  led  en  that  people 
t&  revenge  the  wrongs  done  to  her^T 


3io  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

her  country  by  the  Romans.  And  in  later 
periods,  such  was  the  Maid  of  Orleans,  and 
Margaret  of  Anjou ;  which  last,  according 
to  several  historians,  commanded  at  no  less 
than  twelve  pitched  battles.  But  we  do  not 
choose  to  multiply  instances  of  this  nature,  as 
we  have  already  said  enough  to  shew,  that 
the  sex  are  not  destitute  of  courage  when 
that  virtue  becomes  necessary ;  and  were 
they  possessed  of  it,  when  unnecessary,  it 
would  divest  them  of  one  of  the  principal 
qualities  for  which  we  love,  and  for  which 
we  value  them.  No  woman  was  ever  held 
up  as  a  pattern  to  her  sex,  because  she  was 
intrepid  and  brave  ;  no  woman  ever  conciliat- 
ed the  affections  of  the  men,  by  rivaling  them 
in  what  they  reckon  the  peculiar  excellencies 
of  their  own  character. 


AS  the  Greeks  emerged  from  the  barbarity 
of  the  heroic  ages,  among  other  articles  of 
culture,  they  b  gan  to  bestow  more  attention 
on  the  convenience  and  elegance  of  dress. — 
At  Athens,  the  ladies  commonly  employ  the 
whole  morning  in  dressing  tl.emselves  in  a 
decent  and  becoming  manner;  their  toilette 
consisted  in  paints  and  washes,  of  such  a  na- 
ture as  to  clear  and  beautify  the  skin,  and 
they  took  great  care  to  clean  their  teeth,  an 
article  too  much,  neglected  :  some  also  black- 
ened their%ye- brows,  and,  if  necessary,  sup- 
1  the  deficiency  of  the  vermilliou  on  their 
lips,  by  a  paint  said  to  have  been  exceeding- 
ly b.autifitfi     At  this  tiaie  the  women  in  the 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  3" 

Greek   islands  make    much  use   of  a  paint 
which  they  call  Sulam  1,  which  imparts  a  beau- 
tiful redness  to  the   checks,  and   gives  the 
skin  a  remarkable  gloss.     Possibly  this  may- 
be  the  same  with  that  made   use  of  in  the 
times  we  are  considering;   but  however  that 
be,  some  of  the  Greek  iadies  at  present  gild 
their  faces  all  over  on  the  day  of  their  marri- 
age, and  consider  this  coating  as  an  irresisti- 
ble charm  ;  and   in  the  island  of  Scios,  their 
dress  docs  not  a  little  resemble  that  of  ancient 
Sparta,  for  they  go  with  their  bosoms  unco- 
vered, and   with  gowns  which  only  reach  to 
the  calf  of  their  leg,  in  order   to  shew  their 
jine  gaiters,  which  are  commonly  red  ribbons 
.curiously  embroidered.    But  to  return  to  an- 
cient Greece,  the  ladies  spent  likewise  a  part 
of  their  time  in  composing  head  dresses,  and 
though  we  have  reason  to  suppose  that  they 
were  not  then  so  preposterously  fantastic  as 
those  presently  composed  by  a  Paris  an  mil- 
•,  yet  they  were  probably  ohj  .xts  of  no 
small  industry  and  attention,  especially  as  we 
find  that  they  then  dyed  their  hair,  perfumed 
it  with  the   most  costiy  essences,  and  by  the 
means  of  hot  irons  disposed  of  it  in  curls,  as 
fancy    or    fashion    directed.     Their   clothes 
were   made  of  stufFi  so  extremely   light  and 
iin..  as  to  show  their  shapes,  without  offend- 
ing against  the  rules  of  decency.    At  Sparta, 
the  case  was  widely  different ;   we  snail  not 
describe  the  dress  of  the  women,  it  is  suhi- 
cuit  to  say  that  it  has  been  loudly  complain- 
ed ot  by  almost  every  ancient  author  who  has 
treated  o»  u>e  subject, 


-312  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

From  what  has  row  been  related  it  appears, 
that  the  women  of  antiquity  were  not  less  so- 
licitous about  their  persons  than  the  moderns, 
and  that  the  materials  for  decorating  them, 
were  neither  so  few,  «or  so  simple,  as  has 
been  by  some  imagined;  facts  which,  in  the 
review  of  the  Romans,  will  appear  still  more 
conspicuous.  In  the  more  early  periods  of 
that  great  republic,  the  Romans,  in  their  per- 
sons as  well  as  in  their  manners,  were  simple 
and  unadorned  ;  we  shall,  therefore,  pass  over 
the  attire  of  these  times,  and  confine  our  ob- 
servations to  those  when  the  wealth  of  the 
whole,  world  centered  within  the  wails  of 
Rome. 

The  Roman  ladies  went  to  bathe  in  the 
morning,  and  from  thence  returned  to  the  tpi* 
lette,  where  women  of  rank  and  fortune  had 
a  number  of  slaves  to  attend  on  and  do  every 
thing  for  them,  while  themselves,  looking,  con- 
stantly in  their  glasses,  practised  various  at* 
tittides,  studied  the  airs  of.  negligence,  the 
smiles  that  best  became  them,  and  directed 
the  placing  of  every  lock  of  the  hair,  and 
every  pan  of  the  head  dress.  Crquetts,  la- 
dies of  morose  temper,,  and  those  whose 
charms  had  not  attracted  so  much  notice  as 
thty  expected,  often  blamed  the  slaves  who 
dressed  them  for  this  want  of  success.; 
and  if  we  may  believe  Ju\enaJ,  some  ti meg 
-chas  ised  them  for  it  with  the  most  unfeeling 
severity.  At  first,  the  maids  who  attended 
the  toilette  were  to  assist  in  adjusting  every 
.part  of  the  dress,  but, afterwards  each  had  hor 
.proper  task  assigned  her  ;  one  had  the  cum!> 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  51$ 

ing,  curling,  and  dressing  of  the  hair ;  another 
managed  the  purfumes  ;  a  third  disposed  of 
the  jewels,  as  fancy  or  fashion  directed  ;  a 
fourth  laid  on  the  paint  and  cosmeties  :  all 
these,  and  several  others,  had  names  expres- 
sive of  their  different  employments  ;  but  be- 
sides these,  whose  business  it  was  to  put  their 
hands  to  the' labour  of  the  toilette,  there  were 
others,  who,  acting  in  a  station  more  exalted, 
only  attended  to  give  their  opinion  and  advice, 
to  declare  what  colours  most  suited  the  com- 
plexion, and  what  method  of  dressiag  gave 
the  greatest  additional  lustre  to  the  charms  of 
nature.  To  this  important  council  of  the  toi- 
lette we  have  no  account  of  the  male  sex  being 
ever  admittted ;  this  useful,  though  perhaps 
indelicate  invention  was  reserved  for  the  ladies 
of  Paris,  who  wisely  considering,  that  as  they 
dress  only  for  the  men,  the  men  must  be  the 
best  judges  of  what  will  please  themselves. 


BUT  the  disposing  of  the  hair  in  various 
forms  and  figures  ;  the  interweaving  it  with 
ribbons,  jewels,  and  gold ;  were  not  the  only 
methods  they  made  use  of  to  make  it  agree- 
able to  taste  ;  light  coloured  hair  had  the 
preference  of  all  others;  both  men  and  wo- 
men therefore  dyed  their  hair  of  this  colour, 
then  perfumed  it  with  sweet  scented  essences, 
and  powdered  it  with  gold  dust;  a  custom  of 
the  highest  extravagance,  which  the  Romans 
brought  from  Asia,  and  which  according  to 
josephus,  was  practised  among  the  Jews; 
White  hair-powder  was  not  thet*  invented. 


$T4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

nor  did  the  use  of  it  come  into  fashion  till  te- 
wards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  the; 
first  writer  who  mentions  it  is  L'Etoiie,  who 
relates,  that  in  the  year  1593,  the  Nuns  walk- 
ed the  streets  of  Paris  curled  and  powdered  j 
from  that  time  the  custom  of  powdering  has 
become  so  common,  that  in  most  places  of 
Europe,  but  espeecially  in  France,  it  is  used 
by  both  sexes,  and  by  people  of  all  ages,  ranks 
and  conditions. 


CHAPTER  LXVI. 

Grecian  and  Spartan  Indecency — Cruelty  of 
the  Grecian  JFomen. 

IN  a  preceding  chapter  we  have  observed, 
that,  during  the  whole  of  what  are  called  the 
heroic  ages,  the  history  of  Greece  is  nothing 
but  a  compound  of  ihe  most  absurd  fable ;  from 
that  fable  it  however  appears,  that  their  gods 
and  men  employed  much  of  their  time  and 
ingenuity  in  seducing,  stealing,  and  forcibly 
debauching  theiryoung  women,  circumstances 
which  naturally  suggest  an  idea  that  those  wo- 
men who  could  not  be  obtained  by  any  other 
means  must  have  been  virtuous :  nor  indeed 
does  it  appear  that  they  were  t\\Qu  much  less 
so  than  in  those  succeeding  periods,  when 
the  Greeks  flourished  in  all  their  splendor,  and 
were  reckoned  a  highly  polished  people  ;  nay, 
they  were  perhaps,  more  so,  for  infant  colo- 
nics and  kingdoms  commonly  display  more 
virtue  than  those  already  arrived  at  maturity  ; 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  315 

the  reason  is  plain,  the  first  have  not  yet  at- 
tained riches,  the  sources  of  idleness  and  de- 
bauchery, the  last  have  attained  them,  and  are 
corrupted.  But  the  Greeks,  even  in  the  in- 
fancy of  their  existence  as  a  people,  seem  to 
have  been  remarkably  vicious,  for  we  hardly 
meet  with  any  thing  in  their  early  history  but 
murder,  rapes,  and  usurpations  ;  witness  the 
transactions  of  the  kingdom  of  Mycene,  of 
Pelops,  and  his  descendants.  The  rapes  of 
lo,  Proserpine,  Helena,  &c.  all  of  which  stain 
the  character  of  their  gods  and  men  with  the 
foulest  infamy  ;  and  as  it  has  never  happened 
in  any  nation  that  the  one  sex  has  been  ex- 
ceedingly vicious,  and  the  other  not  panici- 
pated  of  its  crimes,  we  may  conclude  that  the 
Greek  women  were,  in  the  heroic  ages,  far 
from  being  famous  for  any  of  the  moral  vir- 
tues. The  greatest  part  of  the  Grecian  prin- 
ces who  assembled  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  were 
guilty  of  many  of  the  most  enormous  "crimes, 
while  their  wives,  not  less  flagitious,  murder- 
ed almost  the  whole  of  them  after  their  return  ; 
a  thing  nearly  incredible,  when  we  consider 
that  in  those  times  custom  had  condemned 
the  wife  who  had  lost  a  husband  to  perpetual 
widowhood  ;  but  even  c«stom,  though  often 
more  regarded  than  all  the  laws  of  heaven  and 
earth,  must  in  time  yield  to  a  general  corrup- 
tion of  manners. 

But  to  proceed  to  times  of  which  we  are 
better  informed.  The  women  of  other  na- 
tions were  indecent  through  the  strength  of 
their  ungovernable  passions  ;  some  of  the 
Greek  women  were  obliged  to  be  indecent  by 


3i6  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

law.     In  Sparta,  what  virtue,  what  decorum 
can  we  expect,  when  even  the  strongest  temp- 
tations to  vice  had  the  public  sanction  of  the 
legislature  ?     In  the  heroic  ages,  while  igno- 
ranee  and  brutality  of  manners  prevailed,  we 
are  not  much  surprised  to  find   the  women 
conducting  the  men  to  the  baths,  undre&sing 
them,   and  attending  to  dress  and  rub   them 
when  they   came  out  ;  but  in  Sparta,  fumed 
for  its  salutary  laws,  and  when  Greece  was  in 
its  most  polished  condition,  we  are  amazed  to 
find  that  both  sexes  resorted  to,  and  bathed 
together  in  the  public  bafhs.   And  this  amaze- 
ment is  still  heightened,  when  we  are  assur- 
ed that  here   also  plays  were  acted  by  order 
of  the  legislator,  where  young  people  of  both 
sexes  were  obliged  to  fight,  and  to  dance  na^ 
ked  on  the  stage,  that  the  men,  according  to 
his  ideas,  might  be  thereby  excited  to  matri- 
mony.    What  were  the  consequences  of  the 
indecencies  we  have  now  mentioned  ?     The 
intention  of  Lycurgus,    if  he  really  had  any- 
such  intention,  was  but  little  attended  to,  and 
it  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  that  both  sexes  went 
to  those  plays  only  for  the  sake  of  debauche- 
ry ;  and  further,  that,  disgusted  by  this  shame- 
less exposure,  the  men  paid  less  regard  to  the 
women,  and  the  women  became  less  virtuous, 
and  at  last  grew  dissolute  to  such  a  degree  as 
to  be  thereby  distinguished  from  all  the  other 
women  of  Greece.     Euripides,  and  some  o- 
thers  of  the  Greek  authors,  bestow  upon  them 
epithets  which  decency  will  not  allow  us  to 
translate,    nor  were    these  epithets  the  over- 
£avrh".g*i  of  the  gall  of  satyric  poets  and  vio- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  317 

lent  declaimers  only,  but  the  cool  and  consi- 
derate reflections  of  the  impartial  historian  ; 
but  we  would  not  be  understood  as  altogether 
confining  dissoluteness  and  debauchery  to  the 
women  of  Sparta,  those  of  many  of  the  other 
states  were  little  inferior  to  them.  In  Thracia 
and  Bceotia,  they  every  third  year  held  a  festi- 
val in  memory  of  the  expedition  of  Bacchus 
into  India,  at  which  both  married  women  and 
virgins,  with  javelins  in  their  hands  and  dishe- 
velled hair,  ran  about  like  furies  bellowing 
the  praises  of  the  god,  and  committing  every 
disorder  suggested  by  madness  and  folly. 

Whatever  public  prostitution  becomes  so 
fashionable  that  it  is  attended  with  no  dis- 
grace in  the  opinion  of  the  male,  and  with 
exceedingly  little  in  that  of  the  female  sex, 
there,  we  may  assure  ourselves,  the  morals 
cf  the  women  are  highly  contaminated  :,  a  cir- 
cumstance of  which  Athens  afforded  the  most 
glaring  proof.  In  that  city  courtezans  were 
not  only  kept  in  a  public  manner  by  most  of 
the  young  men  of  fashion,  but  greatly  coun- 
tenanced, and  even  publicly  visited  by  Solon 
their  law-giver,  who  applauded  such  young 
«ien  as  were  found  in  the  stews,  because  their 
going  to  these  places  rendered  them  less  apt 
to  attempt  the  virtue  of  modest  women. — 
But  Athenian  courtezans  were  not  only  visit- 
ed by  their  great  lawgiver,  but  also  by  the 
celebrated  Socrates,  and  most  of  their  other 
philosophers,  who,  not  content  with  going  fre- 
quently to  see  them  themselves,  even  some- 
times carried  their  wives  and  daughters  along 
with  them ;  a  circumstance  of  which  we  do  not 
D  d 


51-S  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

recollect  to  have  heard  in  any  other  country, 
and  which  could  not  but  tend  to  give  these 
wives  a  mean  opinion  of  virtue,  when  they 
saw  the  preference  that  was  given  to  vice; 
and  when  such  of  their  own  sex  as  thus  pub- 
licly deviated  from  the  paths  of  chastity  were 
so  openly  esteemed  and  regarded,  it  was  na- 
tural for  those  of  a  different  character  to  pay 
the  less  regard  to  that  chastity,  the  practising 
of  which  gained  them  no  superior  privilege 
nor  advantage. 


AS  the  female  form  is  of  a  softer  and  more 
delicate  nature  than  that  of  the  male,  so  their 
minds  are  generally  more  finely  attuned  to 
the  gentler  feelings  of  tenderness  and  huma- 
nity ;  but  the  Grecian  women,  either  by  na- 
ture, or  more  probably  by  custom,  were  in 
this  respect  miserably  deficient.  At  an  an- 
nual festival,  celebrated  in  honor  of  Diana, 
all  the  children  of  Sparta  were  whipt  till  the 
blood  ran  down  on  the  altar  of  the  goddess* 
Under  this  cruel  ceremony,  which  wras  in- 
flicted, as  they  pretended,  to  accustom  them 
to  bear  pain  without  murmuring,  some  almost 
every  year,  expired.  The  inhuman  barbarity 
was  performed  in  the  presence  of  the  whole 
city;  the  fathers,  and  what  our  female  readers 
will  hardly  credit,  even  the  mothers,  beholding 
thrir  children  bathed  in  blood,  and  ready  to 
expire  with  pain,  stood  exhorting  them  to 
suffer  the  number  of  lashes  assigned  themt 
without  a  groan  or  a  complaint.  It  may  be 
alledged  here,  that  women  being  spectators 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  S19 

and  encouragers  of  a  cruel  ceremony,  is  no 
proof  of  their  want  of  proper  feelings,  but  only 
an  instance  of  the  power  of  custom.  A  doc- 
trine to  which  we  cannot  altogether  assent, 
being  persuaded,  that  there  are  many  of  the 
fair  sex,  of  a  composition  so  humane  and  ten- 
der,  that  even  custom  could  not  reconcile 
them  to  barbarity  ;  but  allowing  it  to  have 
that  power,  what  folly  were  the  men  guilty  of 
in  instituting  such  a  ceremony  !  they  were 
robbing  the  women  of  every  thing  valuable  in 
the  female  mind,  and  labouring  to  make  them 
what  they  were  not  intended  to  be  by  nature. 
But  this  inhuman  custom  was  not  the  only 
proof  of  the  Greek  women  were  divested  of 
that  female  tenderness  which  we  so  much  ad- 
mire in  the  sex.  There  was  in  Greece  a  cus- 
tom, if  possible,  still  more  barbarous  ;  ay 
.soon  as  a  boy  was  born  at  Sparta,  he  was  vi- 
sited  by  a  deputation  0?  the  elders  of  each 
tribe  ;  if  he  appeared  to  be  of  a  weakly  con- 
stitution, and  not  likely  to  become  a  stout 
and  healthful  member  of  their  state,  they 
judged  him  not  to  be  worth  the  trouble  of 
rearing  ;  and  therefore  ordered  him  to  be 
thrown  into  a  quagmire,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Mountain  Taygeta,  This  was  valuing  human 
beings,  exactly  as  we  would  do  an  ox  or  at) 
ass  ;  and  entirely  setting  aside  all  the  moral 
turpitude  of  murder.  It  was  only,  however 
practised  at  Sparta  ;  and  we  should  have 
l3oped,  that,  even  there,  it  was  contrary  to  the 
inclination,  and  without  the  consent  of  the 
women  ;  were  we  not  assured  by  a  variety  of 
authors  tliat  the  Spartan   dames,    in  every 


?20  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

circumstance,  almost,  entirely  governed  their 
husbands.  To  the  barbarous  customs  now 
mentioned,  we  shall  adil  only  one  more :  To  so 
weak  and  expiring  a  state  was  the  paternal 
instinct  of  nature  reduced  among  the  Greeks, 
that  they  frequently,  as  we  have  already  re- 
lated, exposed  such  children  as  they  were  not 
able,  or  did  not  chuse  to  maintain.*  A  bar- 
barity, which,  more  or  less,  prevailed  in  all 
the  Grecian  states  ;  except  at  Thebes,  a  ci- 
ty, where,  to  the  immortal  honor  of  the  inha- 
bitants, it  was  so  much  abhorred,  that,  by  their 
Jaws,  it  was  capitally  punished.  We  shall 
finish  this  subject,  by  observing,  that  the 
Spartan  matrons  received  the  news  of  their 
sons  having  been  slain  in  battle,  not  only 
without  any  signs  of  grief,  but  even  with  an 
appearance  of  extravagant  joy  and  satisfaction, 
which  they  took  the  most  early  opportunity 
of  shewing  in  public.  Those  same  women, 
however,  who  pretended  to  have  imbibed  so 
much  heroism,  that  they  were  strangers  to  e- 
very  fear,  but  such  as  arose  on  account  of  their 
country,  when  they  saw  Epaminondas,  after 
the  battle  of  Leuctra,  marching  his  victorious 
army  towards  Sparta,  testified  by  their  beha- 
viour, that  they  were  subject  to  fears  of  ano- 
ther nature  ;  and  that  all  their  joys  and  sor- 
rows arose  not  solely  from  the  prosperity  or 
adversity  of  their  country.  They  ran  up  and 
down  the  streets  in  terror  and  despair,  filling 

♦Though  the  Greek*  might  expose  infants,  they 
cr.uld  not  sell  a  daughter,  or  a  sssicr,  ud1cs3  she  be* 
came  a  whore. 


tub:  fair  sex.  521 

the  air  with  shrieks,  and  transfusing  their  own 
timidity  into  the  men,  caused  more  disorder 
than  the  approach  of  the  victorious  army. 


CHAPTER  LXVIL 

Drunkenness  of  some  Grecian  TFomen — Story 
of  Lucretia — Indecency  of  Ro?nci7i  wo<- 
men — Indecency  of  Savage  Nations. 

WHEN  we  come  to  the  history  of  the  ma- 
trimonial compact,  we  shall  see  how  the  Gre- 
cian women  behaved  to  their  husbands  ;  and 
shall  at  present  sum  up  the  rest  of  their  cha- 
racter, by  observing,  that  at  Athens,  even 
drunkenness  seems  to  have  been  among  the 
number  of  their  vices  ;  as  is  evident  by  a  law 
of  Solon,  in  which  it  is  enacted,  that  no  wo- 
man shall  be  attended  by  more  than  one  ser- 
vant when  she  goes  abroad,  unless  when  she 
is  drunk.  It  would  seem  that  the  Athenian 
women  also  made  use  of  the  darkness  of  the 
night  to  screen  them  in  their  intrigues  ;  for 
another  law  cf  Solon  ordains,  that  no  woman 
shah  walk  abroad  at  night  unless  she  intends 
to  play  the  whore  ;  and  from  several  other 
ordinances  of  this  legislator,  it  plainly  appears, 
that  to  keep  women  within  the  bounds  of  that 
decorum  proper  to  their  sex,  was  a  matter  of 
no  small  difficulty  ;  for,  to  the  laws  we  have 
just  now  mentioned,  he  was  obliged  to  add 
others,  which  shew  that  the  sex  were  only  to, 
be  governed  by  coercive  measures-  fie  or- 
d;  that  no  woman  should  ro  out  pf 


:22  KISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

city  with  more  provisions  than  could  be  pur- 
chased for  an  cbolus,  nor  with  a  basket  high- 
er than  a  cubit ;  and  if  a  woman  went  abroad 
at  night,  she   was  to  be  carried  in  a  waggon, 
preceded   by  a  flambeau  :  from   all  which  it 
seems    evident,  that  the  design  of  Solon  was 
to  make  the  Athenian  women  decent  and  vir- 
tuous.  If  Lycurgus  had  the  same  intention  in 
the  laws  that  he  gave  the  Lacedemonians,  we 
cannot   help  thinking  that  he  had  but  ill  stu- 
died human  nature  ;  for  as  a  learned  author 
of  the  present  age  has  observed,   though  na- 
kedness of  both  sexes  is  no  incentive  to  lust, 
and  though  the  inhabitants  of  countries  where 
no  clcathvs  ^re  used,  are  not  on  this  account 
less   virtuous  than  their    neighbours,  where 
they   are  used,   yet  there   may  be    modes  of 
eloathing   which   more  powerfully  excite  the 
passions,  than   the  most  absolute  nakedness. 
Of  this  kind,  in  our  opinion,  was  the  dress  of 
Sparta.     We  shall  have   occasion  afterwards 
to  describe  it,  and   at  present  shall  only  ob- 
serve, that  it   has  been  exclaimed  against  by 
a  variety  of  the  writirs  of  antiquity. 


THOUGH  such  is  the  general  character  of 
the  Greeks,  we  have  happily  no  instance  of  a 
corruption  of  manners  having  spread  itself  over 
a  whole  nation,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave 
nobody  free  from  the  contagion.  In  the  midst 
of  licentiousness  and  barbarity,  at  least  in 
those  periods,  that  were  subsequent  to  the 
siege  of  Troy,  the  Grecian  wo  men  afford 
us  several  instances  of  chastity,  conjugal  fi- 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  323 

delity,  and  maternal  affection.  In  the  heroic 
ages,  or  those  periods  when  their  states  were 
in  infancy,  they  appear  to  have  been  abandon- 
ed almost  to  every  species  of  wickedness  ;  but 
when  we  turn  to  the  Romans,  we  find  the  case 
quite  otherwise,  In  the  earlier  periods  of  the 
Roman  republic*  before  the  wealth  poured  in 
from  innumerable  conquests,  had  introduced 
luxury  and  dissipation,  no  women  were  more 
famous  for  their  virtues,  none  more  infamous 
afterwards  for  their  vices.  The  whole  histo- 
ry of  Rome,  for  several  ages  after  its  founda- 
tion, bears  testimony  of  the  tenderness,  fru- 
gality, and  chastity  of  her  women.  Of  this 
nothing  can  be  a  stronger  proof,  than  the  long- 
period  that  intervened  betwen  the  foundation 
of  the  republic  and  the  ilrst  divorce  ;  a  peri- 
od of  five  hundred  and  twenty  years,  though 
the  men  had  a  power  of  divorcing  their  wives 
almost  at  pleasure.  To  this  proof  we  eould 
add  a  great  variety  of  others,  but  shall  only 
mention  the  story  of  the  rape  of  Lucretia, 
which  in  the  strongest  manner  demonstrates 
the  value  which  the  Roman  women  set  upon 
the  most  unspotted  chastity.  Lucretia,  being 
violated  in  secret,  could  not  have  found  the 
smallest  difficulty  in  concealing  what  had 
happened  ;  and  besides,  should  it  have  been 
discovered,  the  fraud  and  force  made  use  of 
against  her  were  sufficient  to  have  quieted  her 
conscience,  and  exculpated  her  to  her  hus- 
band and  the  public  from  every  imputation  of 
criminality  :  yet,  so  exalted  were  her  ideas  of 
chastity,  that  she  was  resolved  not  to  give 
back  to  Uie  arms  of  her  husband,  a  body  even 


3*4  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

involuntarily  polluted,  nor  to  survive  the 
guiltless  stain  which  her  honor  had  suffered  ; 
but  calling  together  her  friends  in  the  presence 
of  her  husband,  she  revealed  them  the  secret 
of  the  rape  that  had  been  commitcd  upon  her ; 
and  while  conjuring  them  to  revenge  her  in- 
jured name,  she  stabbed  he rself  in  the  breast 
with  a  dagger  she  had  concealed  under  her 
garments  for  that  purpose*;  -^  . 


COURTS  are  but  too  frequently  the  se- 
minaries of  vice.  This  was  evidently  the 
case  at  Come.  The  e m press  generally  took 
the  lead  in  lawless  indulgence ;  the  example 
of  the  great  is  commonly  followed  by  the 
little :  from  the  court,  a  scene  of  the  most 
shameless  libertinism,  hardly  to  be  paralleled 
in  history,  disseminated  itself  ail  over  Rome. 
Women  danced  naked  on  the  stage,  bathed 
promiscuously  with  the  men,  and,  with  more 
than  masculine  effrontery,  committed  every 
sort  of  irregularity.  By  the  unbounded  li- 
cence thus  given  to  unlawful  pleasures,  ma- 
trimony became  unfashionable,  and  was  con- 
sidered as  a  confinement  and  a  burden,  not 
consistentwith  Roman  freedom  and  indepen- 
dence. To  these  ideas  also  the  conduct  of 
the  married  women  did  not  a  little  contribute, 
and  raised  in  the  husbands  such  a  disgust  at 
marriage,  that  even  Meteilus  the  Censor^  who 
ought  to  have  been  the  protector  of  that  in- 
stitution, made  tiie  following  speech  to  the 
people  against  it:  u  If  it  were  possible  for 
lis  to  do  without  wives,  we  should  ddher 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  3*5 

ourselves  from  this  evil ;  but  as  nature  has 
ordained,  that  we  cannot  live  very  happily 
with  them,  nor  without  them,  we  ought  to 
have  more  regard  to  our  own  preservation, 
than  to  transient  gratifications."  Rome  is  the 
only  place  that  ever  furnished  an  instance  of 
a  general  conspiracy  among  the  married  wo- 
men to<poison  their  husbands. 

A  variety  of  laws  were  from  time  to  time 
devised  by  the  Romans  to  stop  the  progress 
of  public  prostitution.  Among  others  it  was 
ordained,  that  all  courtezans  should  take  out 
a  licence  from  the  court  of  the  JEdilcs; 
which  they  should  renew  once  every  year, 
and  without  which  they  should  not  be  allowed 
to  carry  on  their  trade  ;  that  their  names, 
and  the  price  of  their  favours,  should  be 
wrote  upon  the  doors  of  their  houses.  These, 
one  would  have  imagined,  were  such  condi- 
tions as  no  women  who  had  the  least  remain- 
ing spark  of  sensibility  would  have  agreed  to. 
But  the  torrent  of  vice  was  not  to  be  stopped 
so  easily :  women,  who  were  wives  and 
daughters  to  Roman  knights,  were  not  asham- 
ed to  apply  for  such  licences ;  and  the  infec- 
tion was  even  reaching  higher.  Vistilla,  a 
lady  of  a  Praetorian  family,  with  an  unparal- 
leled effrontery  appeared  ill  public  court  be- 
fore the  iEdiles,  and  declaring  herself  a  pros- 
titute, demanded  a  licence  to  enable  her  to 
exercise  her  trade.  Debauched  as  the  Ro. 
mans  then  were,  under  a  prince  so  dissolute 
as  Tiberius,  their  fears  were  alarmed;  and 
the  senate  enacted  several  laws  to  restrain  at 
Ipast  women  of  rank  from  degrading  them* 


32b    -     HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

selves  and  families  by  a  conduct  so  infamous : 
they    ordained,    no    woman    whose    father, 
grandfather,  or  husband,  was  a  Roman  knight, 
or  of  any  higher  quality,  should  be   allowed 
to  take  upon  her  the  trade  of  prostitution. — 
The  debauchery  of  the  women  was  also  the 
occasion   of   the  Voconian   law,   which    we 
have  already  mentioned  \  but  when  corrup- 
tion had  interwoven  itself  so  dexterously  into 
the  manners  and   customs  of  the  Romans, 
laws  became  too  feeble  to  bring  on  a  refor- 
mation.    The  emperor  Titus  prohibited  all 
public  stews :  the  prohibition  was  but  little 
regarded.  When  Severus  mounted  the  throne, 
he  found  on  the  roil  of  causes  to  be  tried,  no 
less   than   three  thousand   prosecutions   for 
adultery :  he  had  formed  a  scheme  of  refor* 
roatior/;  from  that  moment  he  abandoned  it 
as  impossible. 


IN  savage  life,  female  delicacy  has  no  ex- 
istence :  the  most  absolute  nakedness  raises 
not  a  blush;  nor  can  any  action  excite  the 
idea  of  shame  :  and  as  chastity  itself  has  not, 
in  many  places,  the  same  value  stamped  upon 
it  as  in  civil  society,  deviations  from  it  are 
either  considered  as  no  fault,  or  at  most  as  a 
fault  of  a  very  triftinf  nature,  which  neither 
draws  down  on  a  delinquent  the  ridicule  and 
contempt  of  her  own  sex,  nor  the  neglect  and 
desertion  of  ours.  The  instances, we  could 
give  of  this  would  be  almost  endless.  Among 
the  Natches,  husbands  voluntarily  lend  their 
23  to  each  other,  and  married  as  well  a* 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  327 

unmarried  women,  without  the  least  ceremo- 
ny, ofilr  themselves  to  strangers;  nay,  in 
some  places,  they  even  complain  to  their 
countrymen,  and  desire  them  to  revenge  the 
indignity  they  have  suffered,  when  refused  by 
a  stranger.  In  the  district  of  the  Hurons, 
not  the  least  degree  of  criminality  is  fixed 
upon  her  who  offers  herself  to  prostitution  : 
it  is  a  practice,  into  which  girls  are  early 
initiated  by  their  parents,  and  in  which  the 
custom  of  their  country  continues  them  thro' 
life.  In  many  parts  of"  South  America,  so 
little  restraint  is  laid  on  the  commerce  of  the 
sexes,  that  it  plainly  appears  to  be  considered 
as  an  object  not  worthy  of  legislation.  Don 
Ulloa  reports,  that  the  ancient  Peruvians  did 
not  knowingly  marry  such  women  as  were 
virgins,  and  if  on  trial  they  found  them  such, 
were  highly  affronted  at  being  imposed  upon : 
and  it  is  said,  that  in  the  kingdom  of  Thibet, 
no  women  who  has  not  been  deflowered  is 
reckoned  fit  for  matrimony. 

The  Brazilian  women  are  so  far  from  pay- 
ing any  regard  to  chastity,  that  they  even  vi- 
olate every  principle  of  decency ;  not  being 
in  the  least  ashamed  to  prepare  and  adminis- 
ter to  the  men  stimulating  potions,  to  create 
or  increase  their  natural  desires  ;  which 
when  they  wish  to  raise  to  an  extravagant 
height,  the  potions  sometimes  prove  mortal. 
At  Mindanao,  as  soon  as  a  stranger  arrives, 
the  natives  ikk.k  about  him,  and  eagerly  in- 
vite him  to  their  houses :  the  person  whose 
invitation  he  accepts,  is  sure  to  offer  him  a 
female  companion,  whom  he  is  obliged  to 


3*3  B*STOHICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

accept,  and  to  return  a  genteel  present  for 
the  unsolicited  favour.  This  custom,  which, 
besides  implying  an  absolute  and  disposing 
power  in  the  male,  likewise  supposes  female 
unchastity  to  be  a  matter  of  no  consideration, 
is  observed  at  Pulo  Condore,  Pegu,  Siam, 
Cochin- China,  Cambodia,  in  some  places  of 
the  East  Indies,  and  on  the  coast  of  Guinea. 
In  Otaheite,  chastity  does  not  seem  to  be  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  virtues,  nor  is  the  most 
public  violation  of  it  looked  upon  either  as 
criminal  or  indecent.  The  women  not  only 
readily  and  openly  trafficked  with  the  Eng- 
lish sailors  for  personal  favours,  but  were 
brought  by  their  fathers  and  brothers  for  that 
purpose,  as  to  a  market;  and  those  who 
brought  them  were  always  abundantly  con- 
scious of  the  superior  value  of  youth  and 
beauty. 


CHAPTER  LXVIIL 

Naked    Falciers — Mahometan    plurality    of 
Wives — Women  of  Otaheite. 

SO  different  over  all  the  world  are  the  sects 
of  saints,  as  well  as  of  sinners,  that  besides 
the  Bramins,  a  set  of  innocent  and  religious 
priests,  who  have  rendered  their  women  vir- 
tuous by  treating  them  with  kindness  and 
humanity,  there  are  another  sect  of  religio- 
philofeophical  drones,  called  Fakiers,  who 
contribute  as  much  as  they  can  to  debauch  the 
sex,  under  a  pretence  of  superior  sanctity. 


THE  FAIR  'SEX.  329 

These  hypocritical  saints,  like  some  of  the 
ridiculous  sects  which  formerly  existed  in 
Europe,  wear  no  clothes;  considering  them 
only  as  proper  appendages  to  sinners,  who 
are  ashamed,  because  they  are  sensible  of 
guilt;  while  they,  being  free  from  every  stain 
of  pollution,  have  no  shame  to  cover.  In  this 
orginai  state  of  nature,  these  idle  and  pretend- 
ed devotees,  assemble  together  sometimes  in 
armies  of  ten  or  twelve  thousand,  and  under 
a  pretence  of  going  in  pilgrimage  to  certain 
temples,  like  locusts  devour  every  thing  on 
their  way ;  the  men  flying  before  them,  and 
carrying  all  that  they  can  out  of  the  reach  of 
their  depredations  ;  while  the  women,  not  in 
the  least  afraid  of  a  naked  army  of  lusty 
saints,  throw  themselves  in  their  way,  or  re- 
main quietly  at  home  to  receive  them. 

It  has  long  been  an  opinion,  well  establish- 
ed all  over  India,  that  there  are  not  in  nature 
so  powerful  a  remedy  for  removing  the  steril- 
ity of  women,  as  the  prayers  of  these  sturdy 
naked  saints.  On  this  account,  barren  wo- 
men constantly  apply  to  them  for  assistance ; 
which  when  the  good-natured  Fakier  has  an 
inclination  to  grant,  he  leaves  his  slipper,  or 
his  staff  at  the  door  of  the  lady's  apartment 
with  whom  he  is  praying ;  a  symbol  so  sa- 
cred, that  it  effectually  prevents  any  one  from 
violating  the  secrecy  of  their  devotion  :  but, 
should  he  neglect  this  signal,  and  at  the  same 
time  be  distant  from  the  protection  of  his 
brethren,  a  sound  drubbing  is  frequentl^the 
reward  of  his  pious  endeavors.  But  though 
they  will  venture  sometimes,  in  Hiudostsui, 
E  e 


33Q  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

to  treatf  a  Fakicr,  in  this  unholy  manner ;  i& 
other  parts  of  Asia  and  Africa,  such  is  the 
veneration  in  which  these  lusty  saints  are  held, 
that  they  not  only  have  access  when  they 
please,  to  perform  private  devotions  with  bar- 
ren  women,  but  are  accounted  so  holy,  that 
they  may  at  a^  y  time,  in  public  or  in  private, 
confer  a  personal  favor  upon  a  woman,  witl> 
out  bringing  upon  her  either  shame  or  guilt; 
and  no  woman  dare  refuse  to  gratify  their 
passion.  Nor  indeed,  has  any  one  an  incli- 
nation of  this  kind ;  because  she,  upon 
whom  this  personal  favour  has  been  confer- 
red, is  considered  by  herself,  and  by  all  the 
people,  as  having  been  sanctified  and  made 
more  holy  by  the  action. 

So  much  concerning  the  conduct  of  the 
Fakiers  in  debauching  women,  seems  certain. 
But  it  is  by  travellers  further  related,  that 
whenever  they  find  a  woman  who  is  exceed- 
ingly handsome,  they  carry  her  off  privately 
to  one  of  their  temples ;  but  in  such  a  man- 
ner, as  to  make  her  and  the  people  believe, 
that  she  was  carried  away  by  the  god  who  is 
there  worshipped  ;  who  being  violently  in  love 
with  her  took  that  method  to  procure  her  for 
his  wife.  This  done,  they  perform  a  nuptial 
ceremony,  and  make  her  further  believe,  that 
she  is  married  to  the  god  ;  when,  in  reality, 
she  is  only  married  to  one  of  the  Fakiers 
who  personates  him.  Women  who  are  treat- 
ed in  this  manner  are  revered  by  the  people 
as  th*  wives  of  the  gods,  and  by  that  strata- 
gem secured  solely  to  the  Fakiers,  who  have, 
cunnkig  enough  to  impose  themselves  as  gods 


THE  FAIR  SEX, 


3*1 


upon  some  of  these  women,  through  the 
whole  of  their  lives.  In  countries  where 
reason  is  stronger  than  superstition,  we  al- 
most think  this  impossible :  where  the  con- 
trary is  the  case,  there  is  nothing  too  hard  to 
be  credited.  Something  like  this  was  done 
by  the  priests  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome; 
and  a  itw  centuries  ago,  tricks  of  the  same 
natare^werc  practised  by  the  monks,  and 
other  libertines,   upon  some  of  the  visionary 

and     enthusiastic     women     of    Europe. 

Hence  we  need  not  think  it  strange,  if  the 
Fakters  generally  succeed  in  attempts  of  this 
nature;  when  we  consider,  that  they  only 
have  to  deceive  a  people  brought  up  "in  the 
most  consummate  ignorance;  and  that  no- 
thing can  be  a  more  flattering  distinction  to 
female  vanity,  than  for  a  woman  to  suppose 
herself  sue!)  a  peculiar  favorite  of  the  divini- 
ty she  worships,  as  to  be  chosen,  from  all  her 
companions,  to  the  honor  of  being  admitted 
to  his  embraces;  a  fovor/  which  her  self-ad- 
miration  will  dispose  her  more  readily  to  be- 
lieve than  examine. 


BuT  it  is  not  the  religion  of  the  Hindoos 
only,  that  is  unfavourable  to  chastity  ;  that  of 
Mahomet,  which  now  prevails  over  a  great 
part  of  India,  is  unfavourable  to  it  likewise. 
Mahometanism  every  Where  indulges  the 
men  with  a  plurality  of  wives,  while  it  ties 
clown  the  women  to  the  strictest  conjugal 
delity;  hence,  while  the  men  riot  in  unlini. 
ned  variety  %  the  women  are  in  great  numbers 


332  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

confined  to  share  among  them  the  scanty  fa- 
vours of  one  man  only.  This  unnatural  and 
impolitic  conduct  induces  them  to  seek  by- 
art  and  intrigue  what  they  are  denied  by  the 
laws  of  their  prophet.  As  polygamy  prevails 
over  all  Asia,  this  art  and  intrigue  follow  as 
the  consequence  of  it;  some  have  imagined, 
that  it  is  the  result  of  climate,  but  it  rather 
appears  to  be  the  result  of  the  injustice 
which  women  suffer  by  polygamy ;  for  it 
seems  to  reign  as  much  in  Constantinople, 
and  in  every  other  place  where  polygamy  is 
in  fashion,  as  it  does  on  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges,  or  the  Indus.  The  famous  Montes- 
quieu, whose  system  was,  that  the  passions 
are  entirely  regulated  by  the  climate,  brings 
as  a  proof  of  this  system,  a  story  from  the 
collection  of  voyages  for  the  establishment  cf 
tin  East  India  Company,  in  which  it  is  said, 
that  at  Patan,  "  the  wanton  desires  of  the 
women  are  so  outrageous,  that  the  men  are 
obliged  to  make  u:e  of  a  certain  apparel  to 
shelter  them  from  their  designs."  Were  this 
story  really  true,  it  would  be  but  a  partial 

f  cf  the  effect  cf  climate,  for  why  should 
the  burning  suns  of  Patan  only  influence  the 

ions  of  the  fair  ?  Why  should  they  there 
transport  that  sex  beyond  decency,  which  in 
all  other  climates  is  the  most  decent,  and 
leave  in  so  cool  and  defensive  a  state,  that 
sex,  which  in  all  other  climates  is  apt  to  be 
the  most  offensive  and  indecent?  To  what- 
ever length  the  spirit  of  intrigue  may  be  car- 
ried in  Asia  and  Africa,  however  the  passions 
of  the  women  may  prompt  then}   to  excite 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  333 

desire,  and  to  throw  themselves  in  the  way  of 
gratification,  we  have  the  strongest  reasons  to 
reprobate  all  these  stones,  which  would  make 
us  believe,  that  they  are  so  lost  to  decency  as 
to  attack  the  other  sex :  such  a  system 
would  be  overturning  nature,  and  inverting 
the  established  laws  by  which  she  governs  the 
world. 


IN  Otahcite,  an  island  lately  discovered  in 
the  great  Southern  Ocean,  we  are  presented 
widi  women  of  a  singular  character.  As  far 
as  we  can  recollect,  we  think  it  is  a  pretty 
general  rule,  that  wherever  the  sex  are  accus- 
tomed to  be  constantly  clothed,  they  are 
ashamed  to  appear  naked  :  those  of  Otahcite 
seem  however  to  he  an  exception  to  this  rule ; 
to  shew  themselves  in  public,  with  or  with- 
out clothing,  appears  to  be  to  them  a  matter 
of  equal  indifference,  and  the  exposition  of 
any  part  of  their  bodies,  is  not  attended  with 
the  least  backwardness  or  reluctance ;  cir- 
cumstances from  which  we  may  reasonably 
infer,  that,  among  them,  clothes  were  not 
originally  invented  to  cover  shame,  but  ei- 
ther as  ornaments,  or  as  a  defence  against 
the  cold.  But  a  still  more  striking  singulari- 
ty in  the  character  of  these  women,  and 
which  distinguishes,  them  not  only  from  the 
females  of  all  other  nations,  but  likewise  from 
those  of  almost  all  other  animals,  is,  their 
performing  in  public  these  rites,  which  in 
every  other  part  of  the  globe,  and  almost 
among  all  animals,  are  performed  in  privacy 
£  e 


334  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

and  retirement :  whether  this  is  the  effect  of 
innocence,  or  of  a  dissoluteness  of  manners 
to  which  no  other  peoplr  have  yet  arrived, 
remains  still  to  be  discovered ;  that  they  are 
dissolute,  even  beyond  any  thing  we  have 
hitherto  recorded,  is  but  too  certain.  As 
polygamy  is  not  allowed  among  them,  to  sa- 
tisfy the  lust  of  variety,  they  have  a  society 
called  Arreoy,  in  which  every  woman  is  com- 
mon to  every  man ;  and  when  any  of  these 
women  happens  to  have  a  child,  it  is  smo- 
thered in  the  moment  of  its  birth,  that  it  may 
not  interrupt  the  pleasures  of  its  infamous 
mother;  but  in  this  juncture,  should  nature 
relent  at  so  horrid  a  deed,  even  then  the  mo- 
ther is  not  allowed  to  save  her  child,  unless 
she  can  find  a  man  who  will  patronise  it  as  a 
father;  in  which  case,  the  man  is  considered 
as  having  appropriated  the  woman  to  himself, 
and  she  is  accordingly  extruded  from  this 
hopeful  society.  These  few  anecdotes  suffi- 
ciently characterise  the  women  of  this  island. 
In  some  of  the  adjacent  ones,  which  were 
visited  by  his  majesty's  sVsips  upon  this  dis- 
covery, if  the  women  were  not  less  unchaste, 
they  were  at  least  less  flagitious  and  indeli- 
cate. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  ag 


CHAPTER  LXIX. 

liatian  Debauchery— — Female  Slanderers— 
Crinu   Con.  of  Claudius  and  Pompeia. 

IF  chastity  is  one  of  the  most  shining  vir- 
tues of  the  French,  it  is  still  less  so  of  the  Ita- 
lians. Almost  all  the  travellers  who  have  vi- 
sited Italy,  agree  in  describing  it  as  the  most 
abandoned  of  all  the  countries  of  Europe.  At 
Venice,  at  Naples,  and 'indeed  in  almost  eve- 
ry part  of  Italy,  women  are  taught  from  their 
infancy,  the  various  arts  of  alluring  to  their 
arms,  the  young  and  unwary,  and  of  obtain- 
ing from  them,  while  heated  by  love  or  wine, 
every  thing  that  flattery  and  false  smiles  can 
obtain  in  those  unguarded  moments  ;  and  so 
little  infamous  is  the  trade  of  prostitution,  and 
so  venal  the  women,  that  hardly  any  rank  or 
condition  sets  them  above  being  bribed  to  it, 
nay,  they  are  frequently  assisted  by  their  male 
friends  and  acquaintances  to  dtrive  a  good 
bargain  ;  nor  does  their  career  of  debauchery 
finish  with  their  unmarried  state  :  the  vows 
of  fidelity  which  they  make  at  the  altar,  are 
like  the  vows  and  oaths  made  upon  too  many 
other  occasions,  only  considered  as  nugatory 
forms,  which  law  has  obliged  them  to  take, 
but  custom  absolved  them  from  performing. 
They  even  claim  and  e  joy  greater  liberties 
after  marrhge  than  before;  every  married 
woman  has  acicisbeo,  or  gallant,  vvhouttends 
her  to  all  public  places,  hands  her  in  and  out 
4)1  hvr  carnage,  picks  up  her  gloves  or  iun, 


§36  mSTOPUCAL  SKETCHES  OF 

and  a  thousand  other  little  offices  of  the  same 
nature  ;  but  tiiis  is  only  his  public  employ- 
ment, as  a  reward  from  which,  he  is  entitled 

to  have  the  i:  dy  as  often  as  he  pleases  at  a 
place  sacreel    to    themselves, 

re  no  person*  not  even  the  most  intrusive 
l  enter,  to  be  witness  of  what 
passul  between  them.  This  has  been  consi- 
dered by  people  of  all  other  nations,  as  a  cus- 
tom not  altogether  consistent  with  chastity 
and  purity  of  manners  ;  the  Italians  them- 
selves, however,  endeavor  to  justify  it  in  their 
conversations  with  strangers,  and  Barctti  has 
of  late  years  published  a  formal  vindication  of 
it  to  the  world.  In  this  vindication  he  has 
not  only  deduced  the  original  of  it  from  pure 
Platonic  love,  but  would  willingly  persuade 
us  that  it  is  still  continued  upon  the  same  men- 
tal principles  ;  a  doctrine  which  the  world 
will  hardly  be  credulous  enough  to  swallow, 
even  though  he  should  offer  more  convincing 
arguments  to  support  it  than  he  has  already 
done. 


THERE  is  amongst  us  another  female  cha- 
racter, not  uncommon,  which  we  denominate 
the  outrageously  virtuous.  Women  of  this 
stamp  never  fail  to  seize  all  opportunities  of 
exclaiming,  in  the  bitterest  manner,  against 
every  one  upon  whom  even  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  indiscretion  or  unchastity  has  fallen ; 
taking  care>  as  they  go  along^to  magnify  e-: 
very  mole-hill  into  a  mountain,  and  e\cry 
thoughtless  freedom  into  the  blackest  of  crimes* 


TH£  FAIR  SEX.  157 

But  besides  the  illiberally  of  thus  treating 
such  as  may  frequently  be  innocent,  you  may 
credit  us,  dear  countrywomen,  when  we  aver, 
that  such  a  behavior,  instead  of  making  you 
appear  more  virtuous,  only  draws  down  upon 
vou,  by  those  who  know  the  wortn,  suspicions 
not  much  to  your  advantage.  Your  sex  are  in 
general  suspected  by  ours,  of  being  too  much 
addicted  to  scandal  and  defamation  ;  a  sus- 
picion, which  has  not  risen  of  late  years,  as  we 
find  in  the  ancient  laws  of  England  a  punish- 
ment, known  by  the  name  of  ducking-stool, 
annexed  to  scolding  and  defamation  in  the 
women,  though  no  such  punishment  nor  crime 
is  taken  notice  of  in  the  men.  This  crime, 
however,  we  persuade  ourselves,  you  are  less 
guilty  of,  than  is  commonly  believed  :  but 
there  is  another  of  a  nature  not  more  excusa- 
ble, from  which  we  cannot  so  much  exeuJ* 
pate  you  ;  which  is,  that  harsh  and  forbidding 
appearance  you  put  on,  and  that  ill-treatment, 
which  you  no  doubt  think  necessary,  for  the 
illustration  of  your  own  virtue,  you  should  be- 
btow  on  every  one  of  your  sex  who  has  devi- 
ated from  the  path  of  rectitude.  A  behavior 
of  this  nature,  besides  being  so  opposite  to 
that  meek  and  gentle  spirit  which  should  dis- 
tinguish female  nature,  is  in  every  respect 
contrary  to  the  charitable  and  forgiving'  tem- 
per of  the  Christian  religion,  and  infallibly 
shuts  the  door  of  repentance  against  an  un- 
fortunate sister,  willing,  perhaps,  to  abandon 
the  vices  into  which  heedless  inadvertency  had 
plunged  her,  and  from  which  none  of  you  can 
promise  yourselves  an  absolute  security. 


338  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

We  wish  not  fair  countrywomen,  like  the 
declaimer  and  satirist,  to  paint  you  all   vice 
and  imperfection,  nor,  like  the  venal  panegy- 
rist, to  exhibit  you  all  virtue.     As  impartial 
historians,   we  confrss  that  you  have,  in  the 
at  age,  many  virtues  and  good  qualities, 
which  were  either    nearly  or    altogether  un- 
known to  your  ancestors ;,  but  do  you  not  ex- 
ceed them  in  some  follies  and  vices  also  ?    Is 
net  the  levity,  dissipation,  and  extravagance 
of  the  women  of  this  century  arrived  to  a  pitch 
unknown  and  unheard-of  in  former  times  ?  Is 
not  the  course  which  you  steer  in  life,  almost 
entirely  directed  by  vanity  and  fashion  ?  And 
are  there  not  too  many  of  you,  who,  throwing 
aside  reason  and  good  conduct,  and  despising 
the  counsel  of  your  friends  and  relations,  seem 
determined  to  follow  the  mode  of  the  world, 
however  it  may  favour  of  folly,  and  however 
it  may  be  mixed  with  vice  ?    Do  not  the  ge- 
nerality of  you  dress,  and  appear  above  your- 
station,  and  arc  not  many  of  yen  ashamed  to 
be  seen  pci  forming  the  duties  of  it  ?  To  sum 
:!,  do  not  too,  too  many  of  you  act  as  if 
you  thought  the  care  of  a  (Vanity,  and  the  other 
domestic  virtues,  beneath  your  attention,  and 
that  the  soje  end  for  which  you  uere  sent  in- 
to the  world,  was  to  please  and  divert  your- 
selves, at  the  expense  pfihose  poor  wretches 
the  men,   whom  you  coi  sider  as  obliged  to 
support  you  in  every  ki 

travagance  ?  While  such  is  your  conduct, 
and  while  the  contagion  is  every  d^y  increas- 
ing, you  are  not  to  be  surprised  if  the  men, 
BtUI  ibnd  of  vqu  as  piuytbingj  hours  of 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  539 

mirth  and  revelry,  shun  ever}'  serious  connec- 
tion with  you  ;  and  while  they  wish  to  be 
possessed  of  your  charms,  are  so  much  afraid 
of  your  manners  and  conduct,  that  they  pre- 
fer the  cheerless  si  te  >F  a  t  h  tar;  to  ihe 
numberless  evils  Jtng  tied  to  a 

modern  wife. 


OUR  own  times  furnish  us 
of  a  ceremony  from  which  all  women 
fully  excluded  ;*  but  the  Roma-)  ladies,  in 
performing  the  rites  sacred  to  the  good  god- 
dess, were  even  more  afraid  of  the  men  than 
our  masons  are  of  women  ;  for  we  are  told 
by  some  authors,  that  so  cautious  were  they 
of  concealment,  that  even  the  statues  and  pic- 
tures of  men  and  other  male  animals  were 
hood- winked  with  a  thick  veil.  The  house 
of  the  consul,  though  commonly  so  large  that 
they  might  have  been  perfectly  secured  a- 
gainst  all  intrusion  in  seme  remote  apartment 
of  it,  was  obliged  to  be  evacuated  by  all  male 
animals,  and  even  the  consul  himself  was  not 
suffered  to  remain  in  it.  *  Before  they  began 
their  ceremonies,  every  corner  and  lurking- 
place  in  the  house  was  carefully  searched,  and 
1  no  caution  omitted  to  prevent  all  possibility 
of  being  discovered  by  impertinent  curiosity, 
or  disturbed  by  presumptive  intrusion.  But 
these  cautions  were  not  all  the  guard  that  was 
placed  round  them  ;  the  laws  of  the  Romans 
made  it  death  for  any  man  to  be  present  at  the 
solemnity. 

*  Masonry. 


34o         HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Such  being  the  precautions,  and  such  the 
penalties  for  insuring  the  secrecy  of  this  cere- 
mony,it  was  only  once  attempted  to  be  violated, 
though  it  existed  from  the  foundation  of  the 
Roman  empire  till  the  introduction  of  christi- 
an! :y  ;  and  this  attempt  was  made,  not  so 
much  perhaps  with  a  view  to  be  present  at 
the  ceremony,  as  to  fulfil  an  assignation  with  a 
mistress.  Pompeia,  the  wife  of  Caesar,  hav- 
ing been  suspected  of  a  criminal  correspon- 
dence with  Claudius,  and  so  closely  watchtd 
that  she  could  find  no  opportunity  of  gratify- 
ing her  passion,  at  last,  by  the  means  of  a  fe- 
male slave,  settled  an  assignation  with  him  at 
the  celebration  of  the  rites  of  the  good  goddess, 
Claudius  was  directed  to  come  in  the  habit  of 
a  singing-girl,  a  character  he  could  easily  per- 
sonate, being  young  and  of  a  fair  complexion. 
As  soon  as  the  slave  saw  him  enter,  she  rail 
to  inform  her  mistress. ,  The  mistress  eager 
to  meet  her  lover,  immediately  left  the  com- 
pany, and  threw  herself  into  his  arms,  but 
could  not  be  prevailed  upon  by  him  to  return  , 
so  soon  as  he  thought  necessary  for  their  mu- 
tual safety  upon  which  he  left  her,  and  began 
to  take  a  walk  through  the  rooms,  always  a- 
voiding  the  light  as  much  as  possible.  While 
he  was  thus  walking  by  himself,  a  maid  ser- 
vant accosted  him>  and  desired  him  to  sing  ; 
betook  no  notice  of  her,  but  she  followed  and 
urging  him  so  closely,  that  he  was  at  last  oblig- 
ed to  speak.  His  voice  betrayed  hi.;  sex  ;  the 
ir.akl  servant  shrieked,  and  running  into  the 
room  where  die  rites  were  performing,  told 
that  a  man  was  in  the  house.  The  women  in  the 


THE  FA!R  SEX,  ^i 

utmost  consternation,  threw  a  veil  over  the 
mysteries,  ordered  the  doors  to  be  secured, 
and  with  lights  in  their  hands,  ran  about  the 
house  searching  for  the  sacrilegious  intruder. 
They  found  him  in  the  apartment  of  the  slave 
who  had  admitted  him,  drove  him  out  with 
ignominy,  and,  though  it  was  in  the  middle  of 
the  night,  immediately  dispersed,  to  give  an 
account  to  their  husbands  of  what  had  hap- 
pened. Claudius  was  soon  after  accused  of 
having  profaned  the  holy  rites ;  but  the  popu- 
lace declaring  in  his  favor,  the  judges,  fearing 
an  insurrection,  were  obliged  to  acquit  him. 


CHAPTER  LXX. 

Jewish  Customs — Ancient  Customs — Atheni- 
an Midwife*  &fc. — Canadian  Women — ■ 
Superstition,  £sfc. 

IN  the  religion  of  the  modern  Jews,  there 
are  some  ceremonies  peculiar  to  their  women, 
at  the  commencement  of  their  sabbath,  which 
is  on  the  Friday  evening  at  half  an  hour  be- 
fore the  sun  sets.  Every  conscientious  Jew 
must  have  a  lamp  lighted  in  his  house,  even 
though  he  should  borrow  the  oil  of  his  neigh- 
bour. The  lighting  of  these  lamps  is  a  kind 
of  religious  rite,  invariably  assigned  to  the 
women,  in  order  to  recal  to  their  memory  the 
crime  by  which  their  original  mother  first  ex- 
tinguished the  lamp  of  righteousness,  and  to 
teach  them,  that  they  ought  to  do  every  thing 
in  their  power  to  atone  for  that  crime  by  re- 
f  i 


342  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

kindling  it.  Instead  of  the  sca3  e-goat,  whicfc 
this  people  formerly  loadtd  with  their  sins, 
and  sent  into  the  wilderness,  they  now  substi. 
tute  a  fowl.  Even  fatfttr  of  a  family  takes 
a  white  coek,  and  the  mother  of  the  family  a 
white  hen,  which  she  strikes  upon  the  head, 
repeating  at  every  stroke,  "  Let  this  lien  atone 
for  my  sins  ;  she  shall  die  but  I  shall  live." 
This  done  she  twists  her  neck,  and  euts  her 
throat,  to  signify,  that  without  shedding  of 
blood  there  is  no  remission  of  sin.  If  a  wo- 
man,  how  ever,  happens  to  be  pregnant  at  the 
time  of  this  ceremony,  as  bhe  cannot  ascer- 
tain whether  the  infant  is  a  male  or  a  female, 
that  its  sins,  of  whatever  gender  it  be,  may  not 
be  unexpiated,  she  takes  both  a  hen  and  cock, 
that  she  may  be  assured  of  having  performed 
the  ceremony  as  required  by  their  law. 


BESIDES  these  ceremonies  already  men- 
tioned, the  women  in  ancient  times,  as  direct- 
ed by  fancy  or  instigated  by  regard,  decked 
the  tombs  of  their  deceased  friencls ;  thty  hung 
lamps  upon  them,  and  adorned  them  iv.th  a 
variety  of  ht  rbs  and  flowers ;  a  custom  at  this 
time  observed  by  the  inhabitants  of  Constan- 
tinople and  its  neighborhood,  who  not  only 
adorn  the  tombs  oi  tnc  ir  dead,  but  plant  their 
burying-grounds  with  rosemary,  c\  press,  and 
other  odoriferous  shrubs  and  flowers  ;  but 
whether  with  a  view  to  please  the  manes  of 
the  d^nclf  or  preserve  the  health  of  the  living, 
is  uncertain.  There  were  other  ornaments 
besides  these  we    have  now  mentioned,  used 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  345 

by  the  women  of  antiquity  to  deck  the  tombs. 
Among  the  Greeks,  the  tomb  of  a  deceased 
lover  was  frequently  hang  round  with  locks 
of  the  hair  of  his  mistress.  They  likewise 
made  offerings,  and  poured  out  libations  to  the 
ghGsts,  whom  they  suppose  to  smell,  to  eat, 
and  to  drink  as  they  did  while  upon  earth. 
This  was  not  only  a  prevailing  opinion  among 
the  ancients,  but  has  not  as  yet  been  totally 
obliterated.  It  is  still  believed  by  the  Chiri- 
guans;  and  at  Narva,  one  of  the  principal 
towns  of  Livonia,  they  celebrate  a  remarka- 
ble festival  sacred  to  the  manes  of  the  dead. 
On  the  eve  of  Whitsuntide  the  women  assem- 
ble in  the  churchyard,  and  spreading  napkins 
on  the  graves  and  tomb-stones,  cover  them 
with  a  variety  of  dishes  of  broiled  and  fried 
fish,  custards,  and  painted  eggs  ;  and  to  ren- 
der them  more  agreeable  to  the  ghosts,  the 
priest,  while  he  is  praying  over  them,  perfumes 
them  with  frankincense,  the  women  all  the 
time  howling  and  lamenting  in  the  most  dis- 
mal manner,  and  the  intelligent  clerk  not  less 
assiduously  employed  in  defrauding  the 
ghosts,  by  gathering  up  all  the  viands  for  the 
use  of  the  priest. 


BESIDES  these  ceremonies  of  religion  and 
of  mourning,  which  the  women  have  appro- 
priated to  themselves,  there  are  others  observ- 
ed by  them,  which,  arising  from  their  nature, 
and  the  circumstances  attending  it,  may  for 
that  reason,  be  denominated  sexual.  In 
Chirigua,  when  a  girl  arrives  at  a  certain  age, 


544  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

her  female  relations  inclcseher  in  a  hammoc, 
and  suspend  it  at  the  end  of  her  cottage.  Hav- 
ing remained  in  this  hammock  for  one  month, 
they  let  it  down  halfway,  and  at  the  end  ofa- 
jhother  month,  the  neighboring  women  assem- 
ble, and  having  armed  themselves  with  clubs 
and  staves,  enter  the  cottage  in  a  frantic  man- 
ner, striking  furiously  upon  every  thing  with- 
in it,  Having  acted  this  farce  for  some  timef 
one  of  tliem  declares  that  she  has  killed  the 
serpent  which  had  stung  the  girl;  upon  which 
sha  is  liberated  from  her  confinement,  the 
women  rejoice  for  some  time  together,  and 
then  depart  every  one  to  her  own  home.  A- 
rhong  some  of  the  Tartarian  tribes,  when  a 
girl  arrives  at  the  same  period  of  life,  they 
shut  her  up  for  some  days,  and  afterwards 
hang  a  signal  on  the  top  of  her  tent,  to  let  the 
young  men  know  that  she  is  become  marri- 
ageable. Among  others  of  these  tribes,  the 
parents  of  the  girl  make  a  feast  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  having  invited  their  neighbors,  and 
treated  them  with  milk  and  horse-flesh,  they 
declare  their  daughter  is  become  marriageable, 
and  that  they  are  ready  to  dispose  of  her  as  soon 
as  a  proper  opportunity  shall  offer.  In  Cir- 
cassia  and  Georgia,  where  parents  are  some- 
times obliged  to  marry  their  daughters  while 
infants,  to  prevent  their  being  violently  taken 
from  them  by  the  rich  and  powerful,  the  cir- 
cumstance of  a  girl  being  arrived  at  the  time 
of  puberty,  is  frequently  concealed  for  some 
time,  as  the. husband  has  then  a  right  to  de- 
mand her,  and  the  parents  perhaps  think  her 
too  young  for  trie  matrimonial  state, 


THE  FAIR  5£X«  545 

Among  the  circumstances  whieh  gave  rise 
to  these  customs  which  we  have  called  sexual, 
child-bearing  is  one  of  the    most  particular. 
As  in  child-bearing  some  little  assistance  has 
generally  been  necessary  in  almost  all  coun- 
tries ;   to    afford  this  assistance,  the    women 
have  commonly  employed  midlives  of  their 
own  sex.    The  Athenians  were  the  only  peo- 
ple  of  antiquity  who   did  otherwise.     They 
had  a  law  which  prohibited  women  and  slaves 
from  practicing  physic  :   as  midwifery  was  ac- 
counted one  of  the  branches  of  this  art,  many 
lives  had  been  lost,    because  the  delicacy  of 
the  women  would  not  submit  to  be  delivered 
by  a  man.     A  woman    called   Agnodice,   in 
order  to  rescue  her  country-women  from  this 
difficulty,  dressed  herself  in  the  habit  of  a  man, 
and  having  stuikd  the  art  of  physic,  reveal- 
ed herself  to  the  women,  who  all  agree  to  em- 
ploy no  other.   Upon  this  the  rest  of  the  phy- 
sicians, enraged  that  she  should   monopolize 
all  the  business  arraigned  her  before  the  court 
of  Areopagus,  as    only   having  obtained  the 
preference  to  them  by  corrupting  the  chastity 
of  the  women  whom   she    delivered.       This 
obliging  her  todiscovcr  her  sex,  the  physicians 
then  prosecuted  her  for  violating  the  laws  of 
her  country.     The  principal    matrons  of  the 
city,  now  finding  her  in  such  danger,  assem- 
bled together,  came  into  the   court,  and  peti- 
tioned the  judges  in  her  favor.     The  petition 
of  the  matrons  was  so  powerful,  and  the  rea- 
sons which  they  urgerl  for  having  employed 
her,  so  conducive  to  the  preservation  of  fe- 
male delieacv,  that  a  law  was  made,  allowing 


346  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

women  to  practice  midwifery.  The  sex  a- 
vailed  themselves  of  this  law,  and  the  assist- 
ance of  the  men  soon  became  quite  unfashion- 
able, 

Among   the  Romans,  and    the   Arabians, 
who  after  them  cultivated  the  science  of  me- 
dicine with  great  assiduity,  the  women  in  case 
of  difficulty,  sometimes  submitted  to  be  deli- 
vered by  a  man  ;   but  this  was  far  from  being 
a  matter  of  choice  or  a  general  practice  :  nor 
was  it  till  the    latter  end  of  the  last  centiir)T, 
snd  beginning  of  this,  when  excess  of  polite- 
ness in  France  and   Italy  had  begun  to  eradi- 
cate delicacy,  that  the  sex  began   to  give  so 
much  into  the  mode  of  being  delivered  by 
male  practitioners ;    a   mode  which  now    so 
commonly  prevails,  that  there   is   scarcely  to 
be  found  in  Europe,  a  woman  so  unfashiona- 
ble as  to  be  delivered  by  one  of  her  own  sex, 
if  she  can  afford  to  pay  for  the  assistance  of  a 
man.     How  far  the  women  may   be  safer  in 
this   fashionable   way   than   in  the  other,  we 
shall  not  take  upon  us  to  determine,  but  of 
this  we  are    assured,  that  the  custom  is  less 
consistent  with  delicacy. 


IN  some  climates,  where  the  constitution 
is  relaxed  by  the  heat,  and  at  the  same  time 
not  vitiated  by  those  habits  which  in  politer 
nations  destroy  mankind,  women  are  said  to 
be  delivered  with  but  little  pain,  and  frequent- 
ly  without  any  assistance ;  nor  is  this  singu- 
larity altogether  peculiar  to  warm  countries, 
but  seems"  to  depend  more  on  living  agreca- 


THE  FAIR  SSX,  Hi 

b!y  to  nattffe,  than  on  climate,  or  any  other 
circumstance;  for  we  have  heard  it  asserted 
by  several  people  who  have  been  in  Canada, 
that  a  savasje  women,  when  she  feels  the 
symptoms  of  labor  coming  on  her,  steals 
silent y  to  the  woods,  lay*  herself  down  in  a 
coppice,  and  is  delivered  alone  ;  which  done, 
she  goes  to  the  nearest  river  or  pool,  washes 
herself  and  the  child,  and  then  returns  home 
to  her  hut. 


WHILE  ignorance  and  superstition  dis- 
turbed the  human  mind  with  groundless  ter- 
rors and  apprehensions,   it  was  a  prevailing 
opinion  overall  Europe,  that  lying-in  women 
were  more  su bject  to  the  power  of  daemons 
and  witches  than  a  people  in  any  other  con- 
dition,  and  that  new-born  infants,  if  not  care- 
fully  watched,    and  secured    by  ceremonies 
and  spells,  were  frequently  carried  away  by 
them :  on  this  account   various   ceremonies 
and  spells  were  commonly  made  use  of;  and 
even  so  lately  as  our  times,  we  remember  to 
have  seen  in  the  west  of  Scotland,  a  horse- 
shoe  nailed  upon   tht  door,  in  an   inverted 
manner,  to  secure  a  lying-in  woman  from  the 
power  of  witchcraft.     But  this  opinion  was 
not  confined  to  Europe  ;  it  pervaded  at  least 
half  the  globe.     The  No£ais  Tartars  are  the 
particular  dupes   of    it;    when  one  of  their 
women  is  in  labor,  the  relations  of  the  family 
assemble  at  her  door,  and  make  a  prodigious 
noise  by  beating  on  pots  and  kettles,  in  order 
to  fright  away  the  devil,  who  they  suppose 

4* 


54^  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  Or 

would,  if  he  did  not  find  them  on  their  gu  arc!,' 
do  some  mischief  to  the  mother  or  chiid,  or 
to  both. 


CHAPTER  LXXL 

Custom  of  the  Muscovites — Castration — Eu* 
nuchs —  Orig in  of  J\  unneries —  Custom  in 
the  Mogul  Empire. 

IF  the  laws  we  have  formerly  mentioned, 
forbidding  the  marriage  of  near  relations  with 
each  other,  originated  from  the  politieal  view 
of  preserving;  the  human  race  from  degenera- 
cy, they  are  the  only  laws  we  meet  with  on 
that  subject,  and  exert  almost  the  only  care 
wc  find  taken  of  so  important  a  matter.  The 
Asiatic  is  careful  to  improve  the  breed  of  his 
elephants,  the  Arabian  of  his  horses,  and  the 
Laplander  of  his  rein-deer.  The  English- 
man, eiiger  to  have  swift  horses,  staunch  dogs. 
and  victorious  cocks,  grudges  no  care,  and 
spares  no  expense,  to  have  the  males  and  fe- 
males matched  properly  ;  but  since  the  days 
of  Solon,  whe#e  is  the  legislator,  or  since  the 
times  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  where  are  the 
private  persons,  who  take  any  care  to  improve, 
or  even  to  keep  from  degeneracy  the  breed  of 
their  own  species?  The  Englishman  who 
solicitously  attends  the  training  of  his  colts 
and  puppies,  would  be  ashamed  to  be  caught 
in  the  mirsery ;  and  while  no  motive  could 
prevail  upon  him  to  breed  horses  or  hounds 
from  an  improper  or  contaminated  kind,  he 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  549 

will  calmly,  or  rather  inconsiderately,  match 
himself  with  the  most  decrepid  or  diseased 
of  the  human  species;  thoughtless  of  the 
weaknesses  and  evils  he  is  going  to  entail  on 
posterity,  and  considering  nothing  but  the 
acquisition  of  fortune  he  is  by  her  alliance  to 
convey  to  an  offspring,  by  diseases  rendered 
unable  to  use  it.  The  Muscovites  were  for- 
merly the  only  people,  besides  the  Greeks, 
who  paid  a  proper  attention  to  this  subject. 
After  the  preliminaries  of  a  marriage  were 
settled  between  the  parents  of  a  young  cou- 
ple, the  bride  was  stripped  naked,  and  care- 
fully examined  by  a  jury  of  matrons,  when, 
if  they  found  any  bodily  defect,  they  endea- 
voured to  cure  it;  but  if  it  would  admit  of 
no  remedy,  the  match  was  broke  off,  and  she 
was  considered  not  only  as  a  very  improper 
subject  to  breed  from,  but  improper  also  for 
maintaining  the  affections  of  a  husband,  after 
he  had  discovered  the  imposition  she  had  put 
upon  him. 

In  England,  the  marriage  ceremony  is  not 
to  be  performed  but  in  the  church,  and  be- 
tween the  hours  of  3  and  12  o'clock  iri  die 
.forenoon.  In  Scotland,  this  is  deemed  in- 
compatible with  morality  and  sound  policy, 
as  it  hinders  the  valetudinarian  from  doing 
ail  the  justice  in  his  power  to  the  mistress  he 
has  lived  with  and  debauched  ;  he  may 
therefore  marry  her  at  any  hour,  or  in  any 
place,  and  by  that  marriage,  legitimate  all  the. 
children  he  has  by  her,  whether  ^hzy  be  pre- 
sent at  the  marriage  or  not.  Nearly  the  same 
thing  takes  pi  \:;e  all  over  Germany,  only  in 


350  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

some  parts  of  it,  the  children  to  be  legitimat- 
ed are  required  to  be  present,  to  be  acknow- 
ledged by  the  father,  and  to  hold  the  lappet  of 
his  garment,  during  the  performance  of  the 
marriage  ceremony. 


AS  the  appetite  towards  the  other  sex  is 
®ne  of  the  strongest  and  most  ungovernable 
in  our  nature;  as  it  intrudes  itself  more  than 
any  other  into  our  thoughts,  and  frequently 
diverts  them  from  every  other  purpose  or 
employment ;  it  may,  at  first,  on  this  account, 
have  been  reckoned  criminal  when  it  inter- 
fered with  worship  and  devotion;  and  emas- 
culation was  made  use  of  in  order  to  get 
rid  of  it,  which  may,  perhaps,  have  been  the 
origin  of  eunuchs.  But  however  this  be,  it 
is  certain,  that  there  were  men  of  various  re- 
gions, who  made  themselves  incapable  of 
procreation  on  a  religious  account,  as  wc  are 
told  that  the  priests  of  Cybele  constantly  cas- 
trated themselves,  and  by  our  Saviour,  that 
there  are  eunuchs  who  make  themselves  such 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake. 


SOON  after  the  introduction  of  Christian- 
ity, St.  Mark  is  said  to  have  founded  a  soci- 
ety calhd  Therapeutes,  who  dwelt  by  the 
lake  Moeris  in  Egypt,  and  devoted  them- 
selves to  solitude  and  religious  o(iices.  About 
the  year  305  of  the  Christian  computation, 
St.  Anthony  being  persecuted  by  Dioclesian, 
retired  into  the  desart   near    lake    Moeris ; 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  35* 

timbers  of  people  soon  followed  his  exam- 
ple, joined   themselves  to  the  Then.peutts  ; 
St.  Anthony  beipg  placed  as  tbtir  bead,  and 
improving  upon  thtir  rules,  first  forced  them 
int©  regular  monasteries,  and  enjoined  them  t« 
live  in  mortification  and  cnasthy.    About  die 
same  time,  or  soon  after,   St.  Synclittea,  re- 
solving  not   to  be  behind  St.  A,,th  in  tq  her 
zeal  for  chastity,  is  generally  believed  to  have 
collected  together  a  number  of  enthusiastic 
females,  and  to  have  founded  the  ,fi  si  nunne- 
ry for  their   reception.     Some   imagine   the 
scheme  of  celibacy  was  concerted   b« twceii 
St.  Anthony  and  St.  Synclitica,  as  St.  Antho- 
ny, on  his  first  retiring  into  solitude,  is  said 
to  have  put  his  sister  into  a  nunnery,  which 
must  have  been  that  of  St.  Synclitica  ;  but 
however  this  be,  from  their  institution,  monks 
and  nuns  increased  so  last,  that  in  the  city  of 
Orixa,  about  seventeen  years  after  the  death 
of  St.  Anthony,  there  were  twenty  thousand 
virgins  devoted  to  celibacy. 

Such  at  this  time  was  the  rage  of  celibacy ; 
a  rage  which,  however  unnatural,   will  cease 
to  excite  our  wonder,  when  we  consider,  that 
it  was  accounted  by  both  sexes  the  sure  and 
only  infallible  road  to  heaven  and  eternal  hap- 
piness; and  as  such,  it  behoved  the  church 
vigorously  to   maintain  and  countenance   it, 
which  she  did  by  beginning  about  this  time 
to  deny  the  liberty  of  marriage  to  her  sons. 
In  the  first  council  of  Nice,  held  soon  after 
the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  celibacy 
of  the  clergy  was  strenuously  argued  for,  and 
some  think  that  even  m  an  earlier  period  it 


35a  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

had  been  the  subject  of  debate  ;  however  this 
be  it  was  not  agre<  d  to  }i  the  council  of  Nice, 
though  at  the  t  nc!  el  the  fourth  century  it  is 
s':id  that  Syricus,  bishop  oi  Rome,  enacted 
the  fu  st  decree  against  the  marriage  of  monks; 
a  decree  which  was  not  universally  received  : 
for  several  centuries  after,  we  find  thatitwafc 
not  uncommon  tor  clergy  men  to  have  wives; 
even  the  popes  were  allowed  this  liberty,  »s 
it  is  said  in  tome  of  the  old  statutes  of  the 
church,  that  it  was  lawful  for  the  pope  to 
marry  a  virgin  for  the  sake  of  having  children. 
So  exceedingly  difficult  is  it  to  combat  a- 
gainst  nature,  that  little  regard  seems  to  have 
been  paid  to  tins  decree  of  Syricus  ;  for  we 
are  informed,  that  several  centuiies  after,  it 
was  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  clergy  to 
have  wivesj  and  perhaps  even  a  plurality  of 
them;  us  we  find  it  among  the  ordonnances 
of  pope  Sylvester,  that  every  priest  should  be 
the  husband  of  one  wife  only  ;  and  Pius  the 
Second  affirmed,  that  though  many  strong  rea- 
sons might  be  adduced  in  support  of  the  ce- 
libacy of  the  clergy,  there  were  still  stronger 
reasons  against  it. 


IN  a  variety  of  parts  of  the  Mogul  empire, 
when  the  women  are  carried  abroad,  they  are 
put  into  a  kind  of  machine,  like  a  chariot, 
and  placed  on  the  backs  of  camels,  or  in  co- 
vered sedan  chairs,  and  surrounded  by  a  guard 
of  eunuchs,  and  armed  men,  in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  a  stranger  would  rather  suppose  the 
cavalcade  to  be  carrying  some  desperate  vil- 


THE  FAIR  S£X«  3S3 

lain  to  execution,  than  employed  to  prevent 
the  intrigues  or  escape  of  a  defenceless  wo- 
man. At  home,  the  sex  are  covered  with 
'gauze  veils,  which  they  dare  not  take  off  in 
the  presence  of  any  man,  except  their  hus- 
band or  some  near  relation.  Over  the  great- 
est part  of  Asia,  and  in  some  places  of  Afri- 
ca, women  are  guarded  by  eunuchs,  made  in- 
capable of  violating  their  chastity.  In  Spain, 
where  the  natives  are  the  descendants  of  the 
Africans,  and  whose  jealousy  is  not  less  strong 
than  that  of  their  ancestors,  they,  for  many 
centuries,  made  use  of  padlocks  to  secure 
the  chastity  of  their  women ;  but  finding 
these  ineffectual,  they  frequently  had  recourse 
to  old  women,  called  gouvernantes.  It  had 
been  discovered,  that  men  deprived  of  their 
virility,  did  not  sometimes  guard  female  vir- 
tue so  strictly,  as  to  be  incapable  of  being 
bribed  to  allow  another  a  taste  of  those  plea- 
sures they  themselves  were  incapable  of  en- 
joying. The  Spaniards,  sensible  of  this, 
imagined,  that  vindictive  old  women  were 
more  likely  to  be  incorruptible  ;  as  ^n\y 
would  stimulate  them  to  prevent  the  young 
from  enjoying  those  pleasures,  which  they 
themselves  had  no  longer  any  chance  for ; 
but  all  powerful  gold  soon  overcame  even 
this  obstacle ;  and  the  Spaniards,  at  present, 
seem  to  give  up  all  restrictive  methods,  and 
to  trust  the  virtue  of  their  women  to  good 
principles,  instead  of  rigour  and  hard  usage. 


354  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 


CHAPTER  LXXII. 

Grecian  Courtship,  Power  of  Philtres  and 
Charms — Eastern  courtship — Long  Hair 
of  Saxons  arid  Danes* 

WHAT  we  have  row  observed  concern* 
ing  the  manner  of  courtship,  was  too  much 
the  case  with  the  Greeks.  In  the  earlie?  pe- 
riods  of  their  history,  their  love,  if  v.e  may 
call  it  so,  was  only  the  animal  appetite,  impet- 
uous and  unrestrained  either  by  cultivation 
of  manners,  or  precepts  of  morality  ;  and  al- 
most every  opportunity  which  fell  in  thtir 
way  prompted  them  to  satisfy  that  appetite 
by  force>  and  to  revenge  the  obstruction  of 
it  by  murder.  \\  hen  they  became  a  more 
civilized  people,  they  shone  much  more  illus- 
triously in  arts  and  in  arms,  then  in  delicacy 
of  sentiment  and  elegance  of  manners: 
hence  we  shall  find,  that  their  method  of 
making  love  was  more  directed  to  compel 
the  fair  sex  to  a  compliance  with  their  wishes 
by  charms  and  philtres,  than  to  win  them  bj 
the  nameless  assiduities  and  good  offices  of  a 
lover. 

As  the  two  sexes  in  Greece  had  but  little 
communication  with  each  other,  and  a  lover 
was  seldom  favoured  with  an  opportunity  of 
telling  his  passion  to  his  mistress,  he  used  to 
discover  it  by  inscribing  her  name  on  the 
walls  of  his  house,  on  the  bark  of  the  trees 
of  a  public  walk,  or  the  leaves  of  his  books; 
it  was  cubtomary  for  him  also  to  deck  the 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  S5S 

tieor  of  the  house,  where  his  fair  one  lived, 
with  garlands  and  flowers,  to  make  libations 
of  wine  before  it,  and  to  sprinkle  the  entrance 
with  the  same  liquor,  in  the  manner  that  was 
practised  at  the  temple  of  Cupid.  Garlands 
were  of  great  use  among  the  Greeks  in  love 
affairs;  when  a  man  untied  his  garland,  te 
was  a  declaration  of  his  having  been  subdued 
by  that  passion;  and  when  a  woman  compos- 
ed a  garland,  it  was  a  tacit  confession  of  the 
same  thing  :  and  though  we  are  not  informed 
of  it,  we  may  presume  that  both  sexes  had 
methods  of  discovering  by  these  garlands, 
not  only  that  they  were  in  love,  but  the  object 
also  upon  whom  it  was  directed. 

Such  were  the  common  methods  of  dis- 
covering the  passion  of  love,  the  methods 
of  pros  cutlng  it  were  still  more  extraordina- 
ry, and  less  feconcileable  to  civilization  and  to 
good  principles ;  when  a  love  affair  did  not 
prosper  in  the  hands  of  a  Grecian,  he  did 
not  endeavor  to  become  more  engaging  in 
his  manners  and  person,  he  did  not  lavish  his 
fortune  in  presents,  or  become  more  oblig- 
ing and  assiduous  in  his  addresses,  but  im- 
mediately had  recourse  to  incantations  and 
phikres;  in  composing  and  dispensing  of 
which,  the  women  of  Thessaly  were  reckon- 
ed  the  most  famous,  and  drove  a  traffic  hi 
them  of  no  inconsiderable  advantage.  These 
potions  were  given  by  the  women  to  the  men, 
as  well  as  by  the  men  to  the  women,  and 
were  generally  so  violent  in  their  operation 
as  for  some  time  to  deprive  the  person  who 
took  them,  of  sense,  and  not  uncommonly  of 


556  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

life  :  their  composition  was  a  variety  of  herb:) 
(J  the  most  strong  and  virulent  nature, 
which  we  shall  not  mention;  but  Ixrbs  were 
not  the  only  things  they  relied  on  for  their 
purpose,  they  called  in  the  productions  of  the 
animal  and  mineral  kingdoms  to  their  assis- 
tance ;  when  these  failed,  they  roasted  an  im- 
age of  wax  before  the  fire,  representing  the 
object  of  their  love,  and  as  this  became 
warm,  they  Haltered  themselves  that  the  per- 
son  represented  by  it  would  be  proportionally 
warmed  with  love.  When  a  lover  could  ob- 
tain any  thing  belonging  to  his  mistress,  he 
imagined  it  of  singular  advantage,  and  de- 
posited it  in  the  earth  beneath  the  threshold 
of  her  door.  Besides  these,  they  had  a  vari- 
ety of  other  methods  equally  ridiculous  and 
unavailing,  and  of  which  it  would  be  trifling 
to  give  a  minute  detail :  we  shall-,  therefore, 
just  take  notice  as  we  go  along,  that  such  of 
either  sex  as  believed  themselves  forced  into 
love  by  the  power  of  philtres  and  charms, 
commonly  had  recourse  to  the  same  methods 
to  disengage  themselves,  and  break  the  pow- 
er of  these  enchantments,  which  they  sup- 
posed operated  involuntarily  on  their  iuclina-* 
lions ;  and  thus  the  old  women  of  Greece, 
like  the  lawyers  of  modern  times,  were  em- 
ployed to  defeat  the  schemes  and  operations 
of  each  other,  and  like  them  too,  it  is  presu* 
mable,  laughed  in  their  sleeves,  while  they 
hugged  the  gains  that  arose  from  vulgar  ere-, 
dulity. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  357 

THE  Romans,  who  borrowed  most  of  their 
customs  from  the  Greeks,  also  followed  them 
in  that  of  endeavouring  to  concilitate  love  by 
the  power  of  philtres  and  charms  ;  a  fact  of 
which  wc  have  not  the  least  room  to  doubt, 
as  there  are  in  Virgil  and  some  other  of  the 
Latin  poets  so  many  instances  that  prove  it. 
But  it  depends  not  altogether  on  the  testimo- 
ny of  the  poets  :   Pi  March  tells  us,  that  Lu- 
cullus,  a  Roman  General,  lost  his  senses,  by  a 
love    potion  5*   and   Laius    Caligula,  accor- 
ding to  Suetonius,  was   thrown  into   a  fit  of 
madness  by  one  which  was  given  him  by  his 
wife  Caesonia  ;   Lucretius  too,  according   to 
some  authors,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  same  folly. 
The  Romans,  like  the  Greeks,  made  use  of 
these  methods  mostly  in  their  affairs  of  gal- 
lantry and  unlawful  love  ;  but  in  what  man- 
ner they  addressed  themselves  to  a  lady  they 
intended  to  marry,  has  not  been  handed  down 
to  us,    and  the  reason  as  we  suppose  is,  that 
little  or    no   courtship  was  practised  among 
them  ;   women  had  no   disposing  power   of 
themselves,  to  what  purpose  was  it  then  to  ap- 
ply to  them  for  their  consent  ?  They  were  un- 
der perpetual  guardianship,  and  the  guardi- 
jan  having  the  sole  power  oi  disposing  oi  them, 

*  As  the  notion  of  love  potions  and  powders  is  at 
Shis  day  not  altogether  eradira'ed,  we  take  this  op., 
porrun«'yot  afluring  our  reade*  s,  that  there  is  no 
po  ion,  powder,  or  medicine  known  to  mankind,  tha-c 
j)as  an\  (pecific  power  ot  raiding  or  determining  the 
atf'fttons  to  any  certain  object,  and  that  all  preten* 
(ions  to  fuch  are  not  only  vain  and  illafsve^  foul  illr* 
£al.  3C  ]  10  ibe  la,ft  degree  d^ogerous. 


35S  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

jt  was  only  necessary  to  apply  to  him.  In  the 
Roman  authors,  we  frequently  read  of  a  fa- 
ther, a  brother,  or  a  guardian,  giving  his 
daughter,  his  siiter,  or  his  ward,  in  marriage  ; 
but  we  do  not  recollect  one  single  instance  of 
being  told  that  the  intended  bridegroom  ap- 
plied to  the  lady  for  her  consent  ;  a  circum- 
stance the  more  extraordinary,  as  women  in 
the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire  had  arisen 
to  a  dignity,  and  even  to  a  freedom,  hardly 
equalled  in  modern  times. 


IT  has  long  been  a  common  observation 
among  mankind,  that  love  is  the  most  fruit- 
ful source  of  invention;  and  that  in  this  case 
the  imagination  of  a  woman  is  still  more 
fruitful  of  invention  and  expedient  than  that 
of  a  man ;  agreeably  to  this,  we  are  told, 
that  the  women  of  the  island  of  Amhoyna, 
being  closely  watched  on  all  occasions,  and 
destitute  of  the  art  of  writing,  by  which,  in 
other  places,  the  sentiments  are  conveyed  at 
any  distance,  have  methods  of  making  known 
their  inclinations  to  their  lovers,  and  of  fixing 
assignations  with  them,  b}'  means  of  nose- 
gays, and  plates  of  fruit  so  disposed,  as  to 
convey  their  sentiments  in  the  most  explicit 
manner :  by  these  means  their  courtship  is 
generally  carried  on,  and  by  altering  the  dis- 
position of  symbols  made  use  of,  they  con- 
trive to  signify  their  refusal,  with  the  same 
cxplicitness  as  their  approbation.  In  some 
of  the  neighbouring  islands,  when  a  young 
man  has  fi&ed  his  affection,  like  the  Italians, 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  §59, 

he  goes  from  time  to  time  to  her  door,  and 
plays  upon  some  musical  instrument ;  if  she 
gives  consent,  she  conies  out  to  him,  and 
they  settle  the  affair  of  matrimony  between 
them  :  if,  after  a  certain  number  of  these 
kind  of  visits,  she  does  not  app  ar,  it  is  a 
denial ;  and  the  disappointed  lover  is  obliged 
to  desist. 

We  shall  see  afterward,  when  we  come  to 
treat  of  the  matrimonial  compact,  that,  in 
some  places,  the  ceremony  of  marriage  con- 
sists in  tying  the  garments  of  the  young 
couple  together,  as  an  emblem  of  that  union 
which  ought  to  bind  their  affections  and  inte- 
rests. This  ceremony  has  afforded  a  hint  for 
lovers  to  explain  their  passion  to  their  mis- 
tresses, in  the  most  intelligible  manner,  with- 
out the  help  of  speech,  or  the  possibility  of 
offending  the  nicest  delicacy.  A  lover  in 
these  parts,  who  is  too  modest  to  declare 
himself,  seizes  the  first  opportunity  he  can 
find,  of  sitting  down  by  his  mistress,  and 
tying  his  garment  to  hers,  in  the  manner  that 
is  practised  in  the  ceremony  of  marriage  :  if 
she  permits  him  to  finish  the  knot,  without 
any  interruption,  and  does  not  soon  after  cut 
or  loose  it,  she  thereby  gives  her  consent ;  if 
sue  looses  it,  he  may  tve  it  again  on  some 
other  occasion,  when  she  may  prove  more 
propitious ;  but  if  she  cuts  it,  his  hopes  are 
blasted  forever. 


TO  this  account  we  shall  add  some  re- 
marks  on  the  circus  of  the  Anglo  S.ixons  and 


3ft»  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Danes.  They  considered  their  hair  as  one 
of  their  greatest  personal  beauties,  and  took 
great  care  to  dress  it  to  the  utmost  advantage. 
Young  ladies  wore  it  loose,  and  Sowing  in 
ringkts  over  their  shoulders;  hut  after  mar- 
riage they  cut  it  shorter,  tied  it  up,  and  co- 
vered it  with  a  head  dress,  according  to  the 
fashion  of  the  times;  hut  to  have  the  hair 
cut  entirely  off,  was  a  disgrace  of  such  a 
nature,  that  it  was  even  thought  a  punish* 
me nt  not  inadequate  to  the  crime  of  adultery  ; 
so  great,  in  the  middle  ages,  was  the  value  set 
upon  the  hair  by  both  sexes,  that,  as  a  piece 
of  the  most  peculiar  mortification,  it  was  or* 
dcred  by  the  canons  of  the  church,  that  the 
clergy  should  keep  their  hair  short,  and  shave 
the  ci  own  of  their  head  ;  and  that  they  should 
not,  upon  any  pretence  whatever,  endeavour 
Jo  keep  the  part  so  shaved  from  the  pubiic 
view.  Many  of  the  clergy  of  these  times, 
finding  themselves  so  peculiarly  mortified, 
and  perhaps  so  easily  distinguished  from  all 
other  people  by  this  particularity,  as  to  be 
readily  detected  when  they  committed  any  of 
the  follies  or  crimes  to  which  human  nature 
is  in  every  situation  sometimes  liable,  endea- 
voured to  persuade  mankind,  that  long  hair 
Has  criminal,  in  order  to  reduce  the  whole  to 
a  similarity  with  themselves.  Amongst  these, 
St.  Wulstan  eminently  distinguished  himself; 
41  He  rebuked,"  says  William  of  Malmsbury, 
"  the  wicked  of  all  ranks  with  great  bold- 
ness ;  but  was  particularly  severe  upon  those 
y/ho  were  proud  of  their  long  hair.  When 
any  of  these  vain  people  bowed  their  heads 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  361 

before  him,  to  receive  his  blessing,  before  be 
gave  it  he  cut  a  lock  from  their  hair,  with  a 
sharp  pen-knife,  which  he  carried  about  him 
for  that  purpose  ;  and  co  nmanded  them,  by 
way  of  penance  for  th  ir  sins,  to  cut  ail  the 
rest  in  the  same  manner:  if  any  of  them  re- 
fused to  comply  with  his  command  he  re- 
p  bached  then  for  their  effeminacy,  and  de- 
nounced die  most -dreadful,  judgments  against 
them.  Such,  However,  was  tne  value  of  the 
hair  in  those  days,  that  many  gather  submit- 
ted to  his  censures,  than  part  with  it;  and 
such  was  the  lolly  of  the  church,  and  of  this 
saint  in  particular,  that  the  most  solemn 
judgments  were  denounced  against  multi- 
tudes, for  no  other  crime  than  not  nruki  g 
us j  of  pen-knives  and  scjssars,  to  cut  off  an 


CHAPTER  LXXIII. 

The  Lapland  and' 'Greenland  Lady — sale  cf 
Children  to purclvise  JFhjes — Plurality  and 
Community  0/  [Fives — Girls  sjfdat  Auctl- 
en 

THE  delicacy  of  a  Lapknd  lady*  which  !i 
not  in  the  least  hurt  by  be^mg  drunk  as  often 
as  she  can  procure  liquor,  would  be  wound. 
ed  in  the  most  sensible  manner,  should  she 
deign  at  first  to  listen  to  the  declaration  of  a 
lover  ;  he  is  therefore  obliged  to  employ  a 
match- maker  to  speak  for  him  ;  and  this 
match-maker  must  never  go  empty-handed  y 


36a  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

and  of  all  other  presents,  that  which  most  in- 
fallibly secures  him  a  favourable  reception, 
is  brandy.  Having,  by  the  eloquence  of  this, 
gained  leave  to  bring  the  lover  along  with 
him,  and  being,  together  with  the  lover's  fa- 
ther or  other  nearest  male  relation,  arrived  at 
the  house  where  the  lady  resides,  the  father 
and  match-maker  are  invited  to  walk  in,  but 
the  lover  must  wait  patiently  at  the  door  till 
further  solicited.  The  parties,  in  the  mean 
time,  open  their  suit  to  the  other  ladies  of  the 
family,  not  forgetting  to  employ  in  their  fa- 
vour their  irrcsistabie  advocate  brandy,  a  li- 
beral distribution  of  which  reckoned  the 
strongest  proof  of  the  lover's  affection.  When 
they  have  all  been  warmed  by  the  lover's 
bounty,  he  is  brought  into  the  house,  pays 
his  compliments  to  the  family,  and  is  desired 
t0  partake  of  their  cheer,  though  at  this  in- 
terview seldom  indulged  with  a  sight  of  his 
mistress;  but  if  he  is,  he  salutes  her,  and 
offers  her  presents  of  rein-deer  skins,  tongues, 
&c. ;  all  which,  while  surrounded  with  her 
friends,  she  pretends  to  rtfuse;  but  at  the 
same  time  giving  her  lover  a  signal  to  go  cut, 
she  soon  steals  after  him,  and  is  no  more  that 
modest  creature  she  affected  to  appear  in 
company.  The  lover  now  solicits  for  the 
completion  of  his  wishes;  if  she  is  silent,  it 
is  construed  into  consent;  but  it  s]vj  throws 
his  presents  on  the  ground  with  disdain,  the 
match  is  broke  off  forever, 

It  is  generally  observed,  that  women  enter 
into  matrimony  with  more  willingness,  and 
less  anxious  <;  ire  and  solicitude,  than  men, 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  36$ 

for  which   many   reasons    naturally   suggest 
themselves   to  the    intelligent   reader.     The 
Women  of  Greenland  are  however,  In  many 
c  1 ..  s.  an  exception  to  this  general  rnle.      A 
Greeuhmder,   having   fixed  his  aff;  etion,  ac- 
quaii its  his  parents  with  it ;  they  at  quaint  the 
parents  of  the  girl ;  upon  whfch  two  female 
negotiators  are  sent   to  her,   who,  lest  they 
should  shock  h^r  delicacy,  do  not  enter  di- 
rectly on  the   subject  of  their  embassy,  but 
launch  out  in  pnuses  of  the  lover  they  mean 
to  recommend,  of  his  house,  of  his  furniture, 
and  whatever  else  belongs  to  him*  but  dwell 
nio^t  particularly  on  his  dexterity  in  catching 
of  seals.     She,   pretending   to  be  affronted, 
runs  away,  tearing  the  ringlets  of  her  hair  as 
she   retires;    after   which    the   two   females, 
having  obtained  a  tacit  consent  from  her  pa- 
rents, search  for  her,  and  on  discovering  her 
lurking  place,  drag  her  by  force  to  the  house 
of  her  lovt  r,  arid  there  leave  her.     For  some 
days  she  sits  with  di shrivelled  hair,  silent  and 
dejected,  refusing  every   kind  cf  sustenance, 
and  at  last,  if  kicd  entreaties  cannot  prevail 
up  n  :  e  ,  is  compelled  by  force,  and  even  by 
blows,   to  complete   the  marriage  with   her 
husband.     It  sometimes  happens*  that  when 
the  female  match  makers  arrive  to  propose  a 
lover  to  a  Greenland  young  woman,  she  either 
faints,  or  escapes  to  the  uninhabited   moun- 
tains, where  she  remains  till  she  is  discovered 
and  carried  b^ck  by  her  relations,  or  is  forced 
to  return-by  hunger  and  cold;  in  both  which 
cases,  bhe  previously  cuts  off  her   hair;    a 


364  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

most  infallible  indication,  that  she  is  deter, 
mined  never  to  marry. 


IN  Timor,  an  island  in  the  Indian  Ocean, 
it  is  said,  that  patents  sell  their  children  in  or- 
der to  purchase  more  wives.  In  Circassia, 
women  are  reared  and  improved  in  beauty- 
arid  every  alluring  art,  only  for  the  purpose 
•of  being  sold.  The  prince  ofthe  Circassians 
demanded  from  the  prince  of  Mingrelia  an 
hundred  slaves  loaded  with  tapestry,  an  hun* 
dred  cows,  as  many  oxen,  and  the  same  num- 
ber of  horses,  as  the  price  of  his  sister.  In 
New -Zealand,  we  meet  with  a  custom  which 
may  be  called  purchasing  a  wife  for  a  night, 
and  which  is  a  proof  that  those  must  also  be 
purchased  who  are  intended  for  a  longer  du- 
ration ;  and  what  to  us  is  a  little  suprising,  this 
temporary  wife,  insisted  upon  being  treated 
with  as  much  deference  and  respect,  as  if  she 
had  been  married  for  life  ;  but  in  general,  this 
is  not  the  case  in  other  countries,  for  the  wife 
who  is  purchased,  is  always  trained  up  in  the 
principles  of  slavery  ;  and,  being  inured  to 
every  indignity  and  mortification  from  her 
parents,  she  expects  no  better  treatment  from 
her  husband. 

There  is  little  difference  in  the  condition 
of  her  v,  ho  is  put  to  sale  by  her  sordid  parents, 
and  her  who  is  disposed  of  in  the  same  man- 
ner by  the  magistrates,  as  a  part  ofthe  state's 
property.  Besides  those  we  have  already 
mentioned  in  this  work,  the  Thracians  put 
the  fairest  of  their  virgins  up  to  public  sale, 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  565" 

and  the  magistrates  of  Crete  had  the  sole  poor- 
er of  chusing  partners  in  marriage  for  their 
young  men  ;  and,  in  the  execution  of  this 
power,  the  affection  and  interest  of  the  parties 
Was  totally  overlooked,  and  the  good  of  the  state 
the  only  object  of  attention  ;  in  pursuing  which, 
they  always  allotted  the  strongest  and  best 
made  of  the  sex  to  one  another,  that  they 
might  raise  up  a  generation  of  warriors,  or 
of  women  lit  to  be  the  mothers  of  warriors. 


POLYGAMY  and  concubinage  having  In 
process  of  time  become  fashionable  vices,  the 
number  of  women  kept  by  the  great  became 
at  last  more  an  article  of  grandeur  and  state, 
than  a  mode  of  satisfying  the  animal  appetite: 
Solomon  had  threescore  queens,  and  four- 
score concubines,  and  virgins  without  num- 
ber. Maimon  tells  us,  that  among  the  Jews 
a  man  might  have  as  many  wives  as  he  pleas- 
ed, even  to  the  number  of  a  hundred,  and  that 
it  was  not  in  their  power  to  prevent  him,  pro- 
vided he  could  maintain,  and  pay  them  all  the 
conjugal  debt  once  a  week  ;  but  in  this  duty- 
he  was  not  to  run  in  toarrearany  of  them  a- 
bove  a  month,  though  with  regard  to  concu- 
bines he  might  do  as  he  pleased. 

It  would  be  an  endless  task  to  enumerate 
all  the  nations  which  practised  polygamy  ; 
we  shall,  therefore,  only  mention  a  few  where 
the  practice  seemed  to  vary  something  from 
the  common  method.  The  ancient  Subaeansare 
r.ot  only  said  to  have  had  a  plurality,  but  even 
a  community  of  wives  ;  a  thing  strongly  in- 
H  h 


366  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

consistent  with  that  spirit  of  jealousy  whick 
prevails  among  the  men  in  most  countries 
whert*  polygamy  is  allowed.  The  ancient 
Germans  were  so  strict  monogamists,*  that 
they  reckoned  it  a  species  of  polygamy  for  a 
woman  to  marry  a  second  husband,  even  af- 
ter the  death  of  the  first.  "  A  woman  (say 
they)  has  but  one  life,  and  but  one  body, 
therefore  should  have  but  one  husband ;"  and 
besides,  they  added,  "  that  she  who  ki  cws 
she  is  never  to  have  a  second  husband,  will 
the  more  value  and  endeavour  to  promote  the 
happiness  and  preserve  the  life  of  the  first." 
Among  the  Heruli  this  idea  was  carried  far- 
ther, a  woman  wras  obliged  to  strangle  herself 
at  the  death  of  her  husband,  lest  she  should 
afterwards  marry  another  ;  so  detestable  was 
polygamy  in  the  North,  while  in  the  East  it  is 
one  of  these  rights  w  hich  they  most  of  all  others 
esteem,  and  maintain  with  such  inflexible 
firmness,  that  it  will  probably  be  one  of  the 
last  of  those  that  it  will  wrest  out  of  their 
hands. 

The  Egyptians,  it  is  probable,  did  not  al- 
low of  pol}  gamy,  and  as  the  Greeks  bor* 
rowed  their  institutions  from  them,  it  was 
also  forbid  by  the  laws  of  Cecrops,  though 
concubinage  seems  cither  to  have  been  allow- 
ed or  overlooked  ;  for  in  the  Odyssey  of  Ho- 
mer we  find  Ulysses  declaring  himself  to  be 
the  son  of  a  concubine,  which  ne  would  pro- 
bably not  have  done,  had  any  great  degree  of 
infamy  been  annexed  to  it.     In  some  cases, 

*  Monogamy  is  having  only  one  wife. 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  367 

however,  polygamy  was  allowed  in  Greece, 
from  a  mistaken  notion  that  it  would  increase 
population.  The  Athenians,  once  thinking 
the  number  of  their  citizens  diminished,  de- 
creed that  it  should  be  lawful  for  a  man  to 
have  children  by  another  woman  as  well  as  by 
his  wife  ;  beside  this,  particular  instances  oc- 
cur of  some  who  transgressed  the  law  of 
monogamy.  Euripides  issaid  to  have  had 
two  wives,  who,  by  their  constant  disagree- 
ment, gave  him  a  dislike  to  the  whole  sex  ;  a 
supposition  which  receives  some  weight  irons 
these  lines  of  his  in  Andromanehe  : 


ne'tr  will  I  commend 


Morr  Weds,  more  wives  than  o<\e   nor  children  curf'd 
Wish  doable  mothers,  banes  and  plagues  or  life. 

Socrates  too  had  two  wives,  but  the  poor 
culprit  had  as  much  reason  to  repent  of  his 
temerity  as  Euripides. 


THE  ancient  Assyrians  seem  more  tho* 
roughly  to  have  settled  and  digested  the  af- 
fairs of  marriage,  than  any  of  their  cotempo- 
raries.  Once  in  every  year  they  assembled 
together  all  the  girls  that  were  marriageable, 
when  the  public  crier  put  them  up  to  sale,  one 
after  another.  For  her  whose  figure  was  a- 
greeable,  and  whose  beauty  was  attracting, 
the  rich  strove  against  each  other,  who  should 
give  the  highest  price  ;  which  price  was  put  in^ 
to  a  public  stock,  and  distributed  in  portions  to 
those  whom  nature  had  less  liberally  accom- 
plished, and  whom  nobody  would  accept 
without  a  reward.     After  the  most  beautiful 


368  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

were  disposed  of,  these  were  also  put  up  by 
the  crier,  and  a  certain  sum  of  money  offered 
with  each,  proportioned  to  what  it  was  thought 
she  stood  in  need  of  to  bride  a  husband  to  ac- 
cept her.     When  a  man  offered  to  accept  of 
them,  on  the  terms  upon  which  she  was  ex- 
posed to  sale,  the  crier  proclaimed,  that  such 
a  man  had  proposed  to  take  such  a  woman, 
with  su oh  a  Sum  of  money    along  with  her, 
provided  none  could  be  found  that  would  take 
her  with  l<°5s;  and  in   this   manner  the  sale 
went  on,  till  she  was  at  last  allotted  to   him 
who  offered  to  take  her  with  the  smallest  por- 
tion.— When  this  public   sale  was  over,  the 
purchasers  of  those  that  were  beautiful  were 
not  allowed  to  take  them  away,  till  they  had 
paid  down  the  price  agreed  on,  and  given  suf- 
ficient security  that  they  would  marry  them  ; 
nor  on  the  other  hand,  would  those  who  were 
to  have  a  premium  for  accepting  of  such  as 
were  less  beautiful,  take  a  delivery  of  them, 
till  their  portions  were  previously  paid.     It  is 
probable,  that  this  sale  brought  together   too 
great  multitudes  of  people  from  inconvenient 
distances,  to  the  detriment,  perhaps  of  agricul- 
ture and  commerce,  and  that  strangers  could 
not  give  sufficient  security  to    fulfil  the  bar- 
gains they  had  made  ;  for  a  law  was  after- 
wards issued  prohibiting  the    inhabitants    of 
different    districts    from    intermarrying   with 
each    other,     and  ordaining,  that    husbands 
should  not  use  their  wives  ill  ;  a  vague  kind 
of  ordonnance,  which  slews  how  imperfectly 
legislation  was  understood  among  those  pec 
Die. 


THE  FAIR  SEX,  $9 


CHAPTER  LXXIV. 

Punishment  of  Adultery — Anecdote  of  Cesser 
—  Power  of  Marrying,  &fc. — Celibacy  of 
the  Clergy. 

AS  fidelity  to  the  marriage-bed,  especially 
on  the  part  of  the  woman,  has  always  been 
considered  as  one  of  the  most  essential  duties 
of  m  ttrimony,  all  wise  legislators,  in  order  to 
secure  that  fidelity,  have  annexed  some  pun- 
ishment to  the  breach  of  it  ;  these  punish- 
ments, however,  have  generally  some  refer- 
ence to  the  manner  in  which  wives  were  ac~ 
qu  red,  and  to  the  value  stamped  upon  wo- 
men by  civilization  and  politeness  of  man- 
ners. It  is  ordained  by  the  Mosaic  code, 
that  both  the  man  and  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery  shall  be  stoned  to  death  ;  whence  it 
w<  uld  seem,  that  no  more  latitude  was  given  to 
the  male  than  to  the  female.  But  this  was  not 
the  case  ;  such  an  unlimited  power  of  con- 
cubinage was  given  to  the  man  that  we  may 
suppose  him  highly  licentious  indeed,  who 
could  not  be  satisfied  therewith,  without  com- 
mitting adultery.  Tne  Egyptians,  amoRg 
whom  women  were  greatly  esteemed,  had  a 
singular  method  of  punishing  alulnrersof 
both  sexes  ;  they  cut  off  the  privy  parts  of 
the  man  tint  he  might  never  be  able  to  de- 
bauch another  woman  ;  and  the  nose  of  the 
woman,  thatsiv,  might  never  be  the  object  of 
temptation  .to  another  man. 


Zio  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

Punishments    nearly  of  the  same  nature, 
and  perhaps  nearly  about  the  same  time,  were 
instituted  in  the  East- Indies  against  adulter- 
ers;  but  while  those  of  the  Egyptians  origin-  . 
ated   from   a    lave    of    virtue    and   of  their 
women,  those  of  the  Hindoos  probably  aiose 
from  jealousy  and  revenge.  It  is  ordained  by 
the  Shaster,  that  if  a  man  commit  adultery  with 
a  woman  of  a  superior  cast,  he  shall  be  put  to 
death  ;  if  by  force  he  commit  adultery  with  a 
woman  of  an  equal  or   ii  ferior  east,  the   ma- 
gistrate shall  confiscate  all  his  possessions,  cut 
of!  his  genitals,  and   cause  him  to  be  carried 
round   the   city,  mounud   on  an    ass.     If  by 
fraud  he  commit  adultery  with  a  woman  of  an 
equal  or  inferior  cast,  the  magistrate  shall  take 
his   possessions,  brand    him  in  the  ion  ht  ad, 
and  banish  him  the  kingdom.       Such  are  the 
laws  of  the  Shaster,  so  far  as  they  regard  all  the 
superior  casts,  except  the  Bra  m  ins ;  but  if  any 
of  the   most  inferior  casts  commit  adultery 
with  a  woman   of  the  casts  greatly    superior, 
he  is  not  only  to  be  dismembered,  but  tied  to 
a  hot  iron  piate,  and  burnt  to  death  ;  where- 
as the  highest  casts  may  commit  adultery  with 
the    lowest,  for  the  mc^t  trilling  fine;  and  a 
Bramin,  or  priest,  can  only  suffer  by  having  the 
hair  of  his  head  cut  off;  and  like  the  clergy 
of  Europe,  while  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Pope,  he  cannot  be  put  to  death  for  any  crime 
whatever.   But  the  laws,  of  which  he  is  always 
the  interpreter,  are  not  so  favourable   to  his 
wife;  they  inflict  a  severe  disgrace  upon  her, 
if  she  commit  adultery  with  any  oi  the  high- 
er cast;  but  if  with  the  lowest,  the  magistrate 


TH8  FAIR  SEX,  371 

shall  cut  off  her  hair,  anoint  her  bo^y  with 
Ghee,  and  cause  her  to  be  carried  through 
the  whole  city,  naked,  and  riding  upon  an  ass/ 
and  sh  ill  cast  her  out  on  the  north  side  of 
the  citv,  or  cause  her  to  be  eaten,  by  dogs.  If 
a  woman  of  any  of  the  other  casts  goes  to  a 
man,  and  entices  him  to  have  a  criminal  cor- 
respondence with  her,  the  magistrate  shall 
cut  off  her  ears,  lips  and  nose,  mount  her  upon 
"an  ass,  and  drown  \vjv,  or  throw  her  to  the 
dogs.  To  the  commission  of  adultery  with 
a  d  inciog-girl,  or  prostitute,  no  punishment 
nor  fine  is  annexed. 


WHEN  Caesar  had  subdued  all  his  com- 
petitors, and  most  of  the  foreign  nations 
which  made  war  against  him,  he  found  that 
so  many  Romans  had  been  destroyed  in  the 
quarrels  in  which  he  had  often  engaged  them. 
that,  to  repair  the  loss,  promised  rewards  to 
fathers  of  families,  and  forbade  all  Romans 
who  were  above  twenty,  and  under  forty 
3rears  of  age,  to  go  out  of  their  native  coun- 
try. Augustus,  his  successor,  to  check  the 
debauchery  of  the  Roman  youth,  laid  heavy 
taxes  upon  such  as  continued  unmarried  af- 
ter a  certain  age,  and  encouraged  with  great 
rewards,  the  procreation  of  lawful  children. 
Sonic  years  afterwards,  the  Roman  knights 
having  pressingly  petitioned  him  that  he 
would  relax  the  severity  of  that  law,  he  or- 
dered their  whole  body  to  assemble  before 
him,  and  the  married  and  unmarried  to  ar- 
range    themselves  m    two  separate    parlies, 


rii  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OP 

when,  observing  the  unmarried  to  be  the 
much  gr  ater  company,  he  first  addresad 
those  who  had  compli<  d  with  his  law,  telling 
them,  that  ;h< -y  alone  had  served  the  purposes 
of  natttre  and  sc  :iety;  that  the  human  race 
Was  created  male  and  female  to  prevent  the 
extinction  of  the  species;  and  that  marriage 
was  contrived  as  the  most  proper  method  of 
renewing  the  children  of  that  species.  He 
added,  that  they  alone  deserved  ihe  name  of 
men  and  f  .thers,  and  that  he  would  prefer 
them  to  such  offices  as  they  might  transmit 
to  their  posterity.  Then  turning  to  the  bat- 
chelors,  he  told  them,  that  he  knew  not  by 
what  name  to  call  them  ;  not  by  that  of  men, 
for  they  had  done  nothing  that  was  manly  ; 
nor  by  that  of  citizens,  since  the  city  might 
might  perish  for  them ;  nor  by  that  of  Ro- 
mans, for  they  seemed  determined  to  let  the 
race  and  name  become  extinct;  but  by  what- 
ever name  he  called  them,  their  crime,  he 
said,  equalled  all  other  crimes  put  together, 
for  they  were  guilty  of  murder,  in  not  suffer- 
ing those  to  be  born  who  should  proceed 
from  them;  of  impiety,  in  abolishing  the 
names  and  honors  of  their  fathers  and  ances- 
tors ;  of  sacrilege-,  in  destroying  their  species, 
and  human  nature,  which  ow«.d  its  original 
to  the  gods,  and  was  consecrated  to  them  ; 
that  by  leading  a  single  life  they  overturned, 
as  far* as  in  them  lay,  the  templesjand  altars 
of  the  gods;  dissolved  the  government*  by 
disobeying  its  laws;  betrayed  their  country, 
by  making  it  barren.  Having  ended  ins 
speech,  he  doubled  the  .rewards  and  priyi* 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  $73 

leges  of  such  as  had  children,  and  laid  a  hea- 
vy fine  on  all  unmarried  persons,  by  reviving 
the  Popse-m  law. 

Though  by  this  law  all  the  males  above  a 
certain  age  were  obliged  to  marry  under  a 
severe  penalty,  Augustus  allowed  them  the 
space  of  a  full  year  to  comply  with  his  de- 
mands ;  but  such  was  the  backwardness  to 
matrimony, -and  perversity  of  the  Roman 
knights,  and  others,  that  every  possible  me- 
thod was  taken  to  evade  the  penalty  inflicted 
upon  them,  and  some  of  them  even  married 
children  in  the  cradle  for  that  purpose;  thus 
fulfilling  the  letter,  they  avoided  the  spirit  of 
the  law,  and  though  actually  married,  had  no 
restraint  upon  their  licentiousness,  nor  any 
incumbrance  by  the  expense  of  a  family. 


Among  nations  which  had  shaken  off  the 
authority  of  the  church  of  Rome,  the  priests 
still  retained  almost  an  exclusive  power  of 
joining  men  and  women  together  in  marriage, 
Tins  appears  rather,  however,  to  have  been 
by  the  tacit  consent  of  the  civil  power,  than 
from  any  delect  in  its  right  and  authority; 
for  in  the,  time  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  marria- 
ges were  solemnized  frequently  by  the  justi- 
ces of  the  peace  ;  and  the  clergy  neither  at- 
tempted to  invalidate  them,  nor  to  make  the 
children  proceeding  from  them  illegitimate  ; 
and  uh^n  the  province  of  New  England  was 
first  settled,  one  of  the  earliest  laws  of  the 
colony  was,  that  the  power  of  marrying 
siioujd  belong  to  the  magistrates,     How  dlfc 


274  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

ferent  was  the  case  cf  the  French  settlers  in 
Canada !  For  many  years  a  priest  had  not 
been  seen  in  that  country,  and  a  magistrate 
could  not  marry :  the  consequence  was  natu- 
ral ;  men  and  women  joined  themselves  to- 
gether  as  husband  and  wife,  trusting  to  the 
•vows  and  promises  of  each  other.  Father 
Charlevoix,  a  Jesuit,  at  last  travelling  into 
those  wild  regions,  found  many  of  the  simple, 
innocent  inhabitants  living  in  that  manner ; 
with  all  of  whom  he  found  much  fault,  en- 
joined them  to  do  penance,  and  afterwards 
married  them.  After  the  restoration,  the 
power  of  marrying  again  reverted  to  the 
clergy.  The  magistrate,  however,  had  not 
entirely  resigned  his  right  to  that  power;  but 
it  was  by  a  late  act  of  parliament  entirely  sur- 
rendered to  them,  and  a  penalty  annexed  to 
the  solemnisation  cf  it  by  any  other  person 
whatever. 


AT  a  synod  held  at  Winchester  under  St. 
Dunstan,  the  monks  farther  averred,  that  so 
higlriy  criminal  was  it  for  a  priest  to  marry, 
that  eveii  a  wooden  cross  had  audibly  declar. 
ed  against  the  horrid  practice.     Others  place 
the.  first  attempt  of  this  kind,  to  the  account 
of  Aiefrick,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  »1 
the  beginning  of  the  eleyentb  century  :  how. 
ever  this  be,  we  have   among  the    canons  a 
decree   of   the   archbishops  of    Canterbury^ 
and  York,  ordaining,  that  all  the  ministers  of 
God,  especially  priests,  should  observe  chas- 
titv,  and  not  take  wives:  and  in  the  year 


THE  FAIR  SEX.  %-}$ 

1076,  there  was  a  council  assembled  at  Win- 
ch sjter,  under  Lanfranc,  which  decreed,  That 
no  can  >n  should  have  a  wife;  that  such 
priests  as  lived  in  castles  and  villages  should 
not  be  obliged  to  put  their  wives  away,  but 
that  such  as  h  d  none  should  not  be  allowed 
to  marry  ;  and  that  bishops  should  not  either 
ordain  priests  nor  deacons,  unless  they  previ- 
ously declared  that  they  were  not  married. — 
In  the  year  1102,  archbishop  Anselm  held  a 
council  at  VYestUiinsL  r,  where  it  was  decreed, 
That  no  archdeacon,  priest,  deacon  or  canon, 
should  either  marry  a  wife,  or  retain  her  if  he 
had  one.  Ansel m,  to  give  this  decree  great- 
er weight,  desired  of  the  king,  that  the  prin- 
cipal men  of  the  kingdom  might  be  present 
at  the  council,  and  that  the  decree  might  be 
enforced  by  the  joint  consent  both  of  the 
clergy  and  laity ;  the  king  consented,  and  to 
these  canons  the  whole  realm  gave  a  general 
sanction.  The  clergy  of  the  province  of 
York,  however,  remonstrated  against  them, 
and  refused  to  put  away  their  wives ;  the  un- 
married refused  also  to  oblige  themselves  to 
continue  in  that  state  ;  nor  were  the  clergy  of 
Canterbury  much  more  tractable. 

In  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  we  may  dis- 
cover also  the  origin  of  nunneries:  the  in- 
trigues they  could  procure,  while  at  confes- 
sion, were  only  short,  occasional,  and  with 
women  who  they  could  not  entirely  appro- 
priate to  themselves ;  to  remedy  which,  they 
probably  fabricated  the  scheme  of  having  re- 
ligious houses,  where  young  women  should 
be  shut  up  from  the  world,  and   where  no 


376  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES,  &c. 

man  but  a  priest,  on  pain  of  death,  should 
enter.  That  in  these  dark  retreats,  sefcJudefl 
from  censure,  and  from  the  knowledge  of  the 
world,  they  might  riot  in  licenticrusness.*;-*' 
They  were  sensible,  that  women,  surrounded 
with  the  gay  and  the  amiable,  plight  frequent- 
ly spurn  at the  ofilrs  of  a  cloistered  priest, 
but  that  while  confined  entirely  to  their  own 
sex,  they  would  take  pleasure  in  a  visit  from 
one  of  the  other,  however  slovenly  and  un- 
polished. In  the  world  at  large,  should  the 
crimes  of  the  women  be  detected,  the  priests 
have  no  interests  in  mitigating  their  punish- 
ment;  but  here  the  whole  community  of 
them  are  interested  in  the  secret  of  every  in- 
trigue, and-  should  Lucinda  unluckily  pro- 
claim it,  she  can  seldom  do  it  without  the 
walls  of  the  convent,  and  if  she  does,  the 
priests  lay  the  crime  on  some  luckless  laic, 
that  the  holy  culprit  may  ccme  off  with  im- 
punity. 


FIRI 


oOo  oC>o  OOO  o^o  0O0  OO^ 
ooo  oOo  oOo  oOo 


SUBSCRIBERS'  NAMES. 

GETTYSBURG. 

Robert  Hayes,  efq.  Alexander  Dobbin 

Doft.  Elijah  Wales  Maibew  Dobbin 

Wiiiiam  Buchanan  Alexander Cobean,  e/fq. 

William  M'Clelian,  jun,  IVlichael  Newman,  efq. 

John  Greer  Walter  Smith,  efq. 

James  Gillfiand,  efq.  William  Ewing.  Jan. 

rbomss  Dinfman  George  W.  Spencer 

Doct.  James  H.  Miller  Jeremiah  Chamberlain 

John  LuGiells,  e(q,  John  M.  Sweney 

Ephraim  Martin  Samuel  E.  Kail 

Samuel  Pauly  James  P.  Scott 

William  W.  Bell  John  Rimmel 

Jcfle  M'Hvajn  Michael  Dovrns 

Thomas  P.  Smith  William  M 'Sherry 

Stephen  Rhea  Henry  Wales 

Samuel  Degroft  John  M'Dermot 

Janaes  DegrofFc  Col.  John  Weeras 

Mrs.  Margaret  Drgroft  Capt.  Francis  Leas 
Mrs.  Margaret  Creamer     Major  Samuel  Galloway 

Barnbart  Gilbert  fames  Galloway 

George  Z'egler  William  Watkfns 

Charles  Wasmus  J°'in  Watkias 

Nathan  Harris  Mifs  Sarah  Fie  mm  ins 

Andrew  Giffin  Jofcph  Swing 

James  Lloyd  Robert  Campbell 

Philip  Slen'z  Benjamin  Lorgwell 

John  Garvin  John  MifFord 

Henry  Sell  Kier  Grubb 

John  Sweney  Michael  Troxel 

John  He;zer  John  Leas 

Abraham   Troxel  David  Middlektuff 

Jacob  Weaver  John  Hamilton 

Thomas  SfcKeUip  John  fenkir.s 

Kfory  Kcons  jQhG  V^r 


SUH3C  RIMERS'  NAMS& 

ADAMS  COUNTY. 

John  Kerr  Daniel  Watkics 

m'ifi  Eleanor  P.ols  Caleb  White 

James  Smith  John  Myers 

tnifj  Polly  Dunwoody  Peter  Brough 

Jocob  Work  Jofeph  Irwia 

David  Newman  Richard  Williams 

miff  Pegf/y  Black,  Jan.  Frederick  Shuil 

B.obert  Hunter  Col.  John  Kin^ 

James   Brinkerhoof  John  Livingfion 

mifs  Margaret  Meredith  John  Irwin 

George  Brinkerucol  Jon"   M'Grew 

John   Myers  Jolin  M'Wiliiancs 

William'  §Uft  William  MPherfon,  e!$. 

Robert  Alexander  Robert  A/Pherfoo 

David  Stewart  J°'ia  ^ea£T 

David  Csffat  Hezekiah  Vannorfdcllaa 

D.  C.  Caflat  John  Bain 

fnif3  Jani  Murphy  James  Guinn 

mils  Mary  Scott  Jonn  Slentz 

mifs  Sally  Mark  Samuel  M  Reed 

toifs  Polly  Mark  Francis  Allifon 

mifs  M.  F.  M'ilhetmy  Jacob  Butnrtardner 

mis.  Juliana  Middlekauft  George  Leas 

Jetfe  'M'Allifter  /Michael  Crowl 

Gto.  A.  Rogers  Patrick  Caffidy 

•Capt.  Alex    M'ilhenny  Samuel  Ke^hcrin^ofi 

U.  States  Army      Tames  Bleckly,  efq. 

Barnabas  M  S  urry  William  Wright 

Samuel  M'CuUough  George  Kelly 

William  Scott  John  Denwicdie 

Michael  Row  Robert  M  Curdy 

John  Troxtl,  jan.  David  Shriver 

I timb  D.  Thomas  George  Will 

Thomas  Herman  Samuel  Eyfter 

Tames  M'ANUfcf  Samuel  Sinclair 

Abraham  Fletcher  Jonathan  Swope 

Peter  Dsardorff  if.iac  Paxion,  jun. 

Tatob  Sanders  Robert  M.  Paxtcn 

Archibald  M'KMip  Thomas  H.  Black 

Henry  Myers  George  Tawney 

Fsier  Ferr«*  ./Wary  M  Cleat 


SUBSCRIBERS'  NAMES. 


Hoberr  5lemm.int,  jm, 
Alexander  Brice 
Abraham  Wilfon 
Jofeoh  Shepherd 
Will  Jaw  Waugh 
James  Burd 
Mr 8.  Ann  D  nvglafs 

ohn  Ma:  (hall 

ohn  A.  5cort 

ohn  Murphy,  jud» 

(.hn  Hall 

ames  Black 
William  Prober 
James  Rowaa 
John  Aj»new 
Margaret  Maginlv, 

Car  roll' j  Delight 
Robert  Fletcher 
John  A.  M'Ksffm 

M '  Kejfonjlown 
Jsmes  Ewing 
William  Diu^lafs 
Jofias  Ferree 
Thomas  Bailey 
William  M'Cleary 
William  Moorhead,  jua. 
David  Fletcher 
James  M'Williams 
,Gtorge  Thornton 
Samuel  Dou^lafs- 
John  Cunningham,  jun. 
Mifs  Mary  Murphy 
Jacob  Cohlftock 
George  Walter 
Francis  Walter 
Adam  Walter,  jun. 
Jamcj)  Cunningham 
lienry  Fergufcn 
John  W.  Black 
John  Cobean 
Thomas  Orr 
Alexander  Stammers 
•Sianicl  Thompfon 


John  Hun? 
James  Sample 
Mifs  }tne  Stammtrs 
M-i.  Sally  Walters 
William  Caldwell 
Mifs  Mary  Ewing 
William  M  'Millsn,  jua. 
Jam?s  Neely 
Jame^  Fletcher 
Alexander  Ellis 
James  M'Curdy 
Capr.  Adam  LivingHon 
John  Edie,    jun. 
George  P.  Bercaw 
George  Lafliells,  efq. 
fleory  Zander* 
James  H.  Bailey 
John  Felty 
John  F.  Lsfever 
Thomas  Armor 
James  3e!l 
Col.  R.  M'llvain 
Major  Wm.  Galbreath 
William  Vanduya 
Robert  King 
Peter  Bercaw 
Abraham  Linah 
J  hn  Adair 
My  les  Sweney 

Peter Jburg, 
Andrew  Will,  efq. 
Mr?.  Margaret  Wioratl 
Peter  Crabs 
Jacob  Hoftetter,  jun. 
Joieph  Stealy,  jun. 

Millerflcvn. 
Amos  Magir.iy 
David  M'Cleilai 
Jacob  Hcagy 
Alexander  Mack 
George  Pvl'Cullough 

Abbetifiomm. 
.Mifs  Hcbecca  Abbe&t 


SUBSCRIBERS'  N AMKS. 

FRANKLIN  COUNTY. 

Capr.  Jofiah  Adair  Samuel  Houfcr 

James  B-igger  William  Schlatter 

George  Brown  Jactb  Srttyely 

William  Da  v,  fan  John  Snively 

Jofeph  P*r*s,  Efq.  Charles  J.  Wifta* 

Jofiah  M*Cullct>gh  Pbclcmcn.CromwcIi 

Mrs.  Sarah  WiT'iams  George  Nigh 

William  Dennifoa  Evan  Evar.s 

Eli  A.  Bauman  Robert  B. .Dencifoa 

Jo:  n  Snivel?  Robert  JourHsn 

Hugh  Gr-eenfield  Eieazer  Lindfley 

William-M'&ean  Michael  Ktfiinger 

Jofeph  Dunn,  juo.  Alexander  Gordon 

Nancy  Sharp  David  Fiifan 
Capt.  Robert  Crifwell  Wayne/burg 

James  Dickey,  New  Mills  James  Coffey 

William  M4fctelUtod  D-niel  Roycr,  Efq. 

Robert  Robifon,  elq.  William   Grove 

William  Barber  H^nry  Keagy 

ElieaRoiipe  George  Mayers 

Mary  Cnbertfon  Abraham  S'.oner,  Judy 

Ckan-bcrfiurg.  C b r : ft ia o  Good 
•G.  K.  Harper— %  copies      Samuel   Fifcer 

Thomas  G;iffitU  ^iVid  R*y« 

Daniel  Flood  Hcory  Funk 

Ccl.  John  Fistcber  Samuel  Ni^h 

Andrew  Lindfay  Samuel  Gxccr 
John  Green  William  H.  BrotliertOD-' 

William  Dougherty  Hans  Gordon 

Tames  Knox  Joha  Wallace, 

jofeph  Barnilt  Michael  Reed 

Green -Cejile.  Solomon  Elliot 

Andrew  B    Rankin  James  Bourns 

John  ptandaT]  Thomas  Pa-.terfon 

rev-  Snutly,  jun,         George  Cougbran 
J.  M.  Pawlicg  RofcertWCIellaa 

Mathew  Lbd  Michael  Miller 

Jajcoi)  K-tcpi  Jacob  Royer 


SUBSCRIBERS*  NAMES, 

Cumberland  county.  Turk  county, 

Jobti  M'llhenny  Stephen  Harry 

Mrs.Eflher   Williams  William  Slyde 

Mifs  Rofanna  Q^iig,ley  Nicholas  Pyle 

William  Clark  Solomon  Stoddard 

John  Smith  George  Bayler 

Patrick  Laverty  Daniel  Stump 

William  Shcppard  "*John  Dinner 

James  M'Crofkey  David  Dungan 

Michael  Frlez     '  Jacob  Keller,   jun. 

Samuel  Coover  William  Reiehenbach 

H.  C.  Manhews  F.  &  J-  frchelberget 

Samuel  Knifley,  jurt.  James  Graham 
Mil's  Margaret    Crocket     Mathew   Dill,  jun. 

Mifs  Margaret  Scott  I^pmiel  Leas 

David  Smiley  James  Shee 

Frederick  Rinehart  George  Bradley 

Jofepb  Morris  $  Nathaniel  Graham 

Mifs  .Hannah  Negley  Jacob  Coughnower 

John  Tannyhill  A.  Ritchey 

"ohnMonka  Thomas  Campbell,  efq, 


i 


j-ohn  Cannon  George  Bayler—  Hanover 
Jofeph  Mille  Northumberland  county , 

James  Martin  Abraham  Hows 

Carlisle.  Jofaph  Power 

Edward  Bar  ton  John  Walker,  jun. 

John  Leas  John  J.  M'CohL 

Mifs  Eliza  Craver  Thomas  Ott 
Nicholas  Ulerich         V        Conrad  Shofers    ' 

David  Mil  liken  J°^n  Walker,  jun. 

Samuel  Lyon  William  M'Elevey 

JLloyd  Noland  Daniel  Blochsr 
William  M.  LUtlejohn       Robert  Clark 

M.  Kaucher  J°l10   KMtmaker 

James  Crever  I  James   Ramfey 

John  Hoven,  jun.  George  Mitchell 
John  Stephens  Sun  bury. 

Shippsnjburg  George  Young 

Hugh  Allifon  William  Hazlct,  jun. 

James  Hill  William  Armor 

Robert  M<  Bride  Jared  Irwin 


SUBSCRIBERS*  NAMES. 

Jsfeph  Alter  Huntingdon  county, 

Peter  Grab!  Samuel  Royer 

•r>'  Ru-^  Armstrong  county. 

William  Haha  David  Keid 

b  Singer  WUliawsporttPa. 

John  Co'.fh.r  James  Gordon 

James  Farrow  Mercer,  Pa. 

Rees  HaAris  Thomas  Bingham,  Efq. 

Theodora  P.  Matter— 10  copies 

Adam  Kline  Berlin,  Somerset  county 

Jac^b   Forma  n  Jacob  G.  Miller 

Benjamin  Waters  Indiana  countv. 

Jofeph  T.  Wallace  Mifs  Elizabeth  Aoey 

Millerflown.  Philadelphia. 

K?nry  Leyman  Caleb  CrefTon,  jun. 

Thomas  Cochran  Baltimore. 

DaviJ    Rumbaugh  Samuel  M<ClrIlan'' 

William  Waugn  William   D.Conway 

William  Cox  Alexandria,'  Fa, 

Anthony  Brandt  Daniel  Dalany 

William  Powers  Louisville,    Kent. 
William  Wallace,  E.  I.       William  W.  Lawes 

Augujla.            .  State  of  Ohio. 

Henry  Yo\himer  David  Denwiddic,  jsn. 

John  Auchqnaty  m.i,.                                    yaaa 
.Henry  Brown 

Eli  (hi   Kline  Frederick  county,  Md.  . 

Jonathan  Cornel  James  Shriver— -JA'ic« 

6  a  mud  Awl    .  M'tllt 

ielins  Grove.  John   Enters 

B-.  Wiflett  John  iV.  3  thews 

Jofeph  Feehfcer  Everard  Hfcrr 

Jacob    Pvhcad  James  Cochran 

Jacob  Leechncr  Jofeph  Green 

Robert  Smith  J°'ln  StemsWel 

Beav;r:  Jofeph  Delaplain— Cafecm 

Simon  Snyder,  jun.  tin  Furnace. 

John  Cumroinga  J°nP  W^cyMrow— Liberty 

hVtgiintfQiin.  W.  B.  Cumming— do. 

Tames  Km>x  Anthony  Livers 

Bedjord  count?.         Join  r  of  Lawrence 

Andrew   Irwiu  —Gractbam 


SUBSCRIBERS'   NAMES. 


Solomon  Davis 
Benjamin  Biggs 
William  Wuherow 
James  Welfh 
2cbulon  Kuhn 
John  "MlSlierry 
John  MifFord 
Edward  Nuzum' 
John  L.  Head 
D.  L.  MkShcrry 
Edward  M'Bride 
Jacob  Beckenbaugh 
Creigcrstozon, 
Samuel  Johntton 
Frederick  C.  Hofe 
Cbrillian   Kuho,jua. 
Jacob  Englcr,  jun. 
John  Stewarc 
Benjamin  Ogle,  jun. 

— 2  copies 
Daniel   Hoover 
Francis  Bcever 
Henry  Loy 
Jacob  Plaine 
Jofeph  Walter 
Baker  john(ton 
Anthony  Livers 
Hcfiry  Picczcl 


Emmhtshurg* 
Jacob  Troxel 
George  Troxel 
Elias  Troxel 
John  Troxel,  jun. 
James  Geitys 
John  Irvine 
Henry  Loy         # 
Joel  Ward 
Robert  Brothertoa 
Andrew  Smith 
John  Bones 
Henry  Elder 

Frederick ..  Town, 
Mrs.  Margaret  Schnensci 
Jofeph  L,  Smith,  jon, 
John  Baec  of  Henry 
William  Htiberc 
.George  Miller 
William  Ritchie 
'John  Gcpharr,  jun. 
John   Jamcfon 
W.  C  Hubbi 

ffagerstozvn* 
Otbo  Rtnch 
John  Ktnnedy 
D.  Sprigg 
Jobo  Robert  fab 


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SMffl 


rfKSli 


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